RELIGION  OF  THE  BIBLE, 


SELECT    DISCOURSES, 


THOMAS  H.   SKINNER. 


NEW-YORK: 

PUBLISHED    BY    JOHN    S.    TAYLOR, 

THEOLOGICAL  AND    SUNDAY-SCHOOL    BOOKSELLER,   CORNER    OP 

PAEK-ROW  AND  SPRUCE-STKEET. 

1839. 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1838,  by 

JOHN  S.  TAYLOR, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the 

Southern  District  of  New- York. 


LIBRARY  OF  THE 

lliijon  Ibeelfiiicai  oeRiinaiy 

NEW  YORK  CITY 

PRESENTED   BY 

^ ^i_^''/M 

G,  F.  Hopkins,  Printer,  2,  Ann-street. 


STfits  Volnmt 

IS    RESPECTFULLY    PRESENTED, 
BY    THE  AUTHOR, 

TO 

THE   MERCER-STREET  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH, 

AS   AN   BXPRESSION   OF   HIS 

FASTORLY  CARE  AND  AFFECTIONATE  REGARD. 


PREFACE. 

I  HAVE  entitled  this  book,  "  Religion  of  the 
Bible,"  not  because  I  would  intimate  that  there 
is  nothing  of  much  importance  contained  in  the 
Bible,  which  is  not  expressed  in  these  few  pages; 
nor  that  the  kind  of  religion,  which  the  Scriptures 
teach,  is  not  elsewhere  to  be  found  in  the  writings 
of  men ;  but  merely  because  I  think,  that  what  of 
religion  the  book  does  contain,  has  been  drawn 
directly  and  exclusively  out  of  the  Bible,  coin- 
cides with  it  in  teaching,  spirit,  and  purpose,  and 
has  that  authority,  at  least,  for  its  warrant  and 
its  defence. 

If  I  have  attained  my  end,  the  reader  will  find 
in  the  pieces  composing  this  volume,  nothing  in- 
congenial  with  the  spiritual  feelings  and  sympa- 
thies of  all  true  Christians ;  nothing  which  will 
not,  if  he  is  a  spiritual  man,  tend  to  his  advance- 
ment in  spirituality ;  and  if  he  is  a  worldly  man, 
1* 


VI  PREFACE. 

tend  to  make  him  a  spiritual  one.  It  is  earnestly 
hoped,  that  in  perusing  the  book,  he  will  not  once 
find  his  thoughts  conversant  with  a  subject,  which 
he  himself  will  regard  as  a  matter  of  doubtful 
disputation,  or  as  among  the  uncertainties  of 
religion,  or  as  pertaining  to  those  peculiarities, 
whether  of  doctrine,  practice,  or  spirit,  which  have 
given  Christians  different  names,  and  have  divided 
them  into  contending  schools  and  sects. 

Let  it  not  be  presumed,  however,  from  what 
has  now  been  said  respecting  the  sort  of  book 
which  I  have  intended  this  to  be,  that  I  wish  to 
be  thought  averse  to  a  strictly  doctrinal  mode  of 
treating  religious  subjects.  If  the  book  is  adapted 
to  make  this  impression  on  the  judicious  reader,  I 
can  only  say,  that  my  convictions  of  what  should 
be  its  intellectual  character,  have  not  had  justice 
done  them  by  my  endeavour.  The  subject  mat- 
ter of  the  book  I  am  sure,  demands,  what  I  un- 
derstand by  the  doctrinal  strain  of  discourse,  in 
a  preeminent  degree.  It  is  not  when  its  theme 
is  controversy,  but  certain  and  fundamental  truth, 


PREFACE.  Vl« 

that  religious  discourse  should  be  most  distin- 
guished by  discrimination,  exactness  of  statement, 
clearness,  order,  and  strength  of  reasoning,  as 
well  as  by  pungency  and  earnestness.  I  am 
aware  also  that  excellency  of  discourse  on  such 
a  theme^  requires  in  its  author  not  only  a  high 
order  of  intellect,  but  eminent  spirituality  ;  and 
when  I  think  of  this,  I  cannot  but  be  humbled  at 
the  vast  disparity  between  the  importance  of  the 
topicks  here  discussed,  and  the  treatment  I  am 
capable  of  giving  them. 

Nor  do  I  wish  to  be  thought  of  the  opinion, 
that  all  discussion  of  points  in  dispute  among 
Christians,  is  unlawful,  or  unnecessary.  The  or- 
dinary teaching  of  the  ministry,  should,  I  am  per- 
suaded, have  little  to  do  with  disputes.     If  any 

MAN    SPEAK,   LET    HI.U    SPEAK    AS    THE    ORACLES    OP 

God.  It  is  a  "point  of  great  inconvenience  and 
peril  to  entitle  the  people  to  hear  controversies, 
and  all  kinds  of  doctrine.  They  say  no  part  of 
the  counsel  of  God  is  to  be  suppressed:  so  as  the 
difference   which    the  Apostle    maketh    between 


Vm  PREFACE. 

milk  and  strong  meat  is  confounded:  and  his  pre- 
cept, that  the  weak  be  not  admitted  unto  questions 
and  controversies,  taketh  no  place."*  If,  never- 
theless, Christians  will  discuss  their  differences 
with  becoming  moderation,  and  so  that  earnest 
endeavours  be  still  used  to  keep  the  unity  of  the 
spirit  in  the  bonds  of  peace,  there  doubtless  are 
times  and  places  in  which  they  may  do  so,  with- 
out sin,  and,  perhaps,  to  edification.  Where, 
however,  the  business  directly  in  hand  is  that  of 
saving  men,  earnestness  and  skill  in  conductiEg 
that  great  work,  will,  as  far  as  possible,  preclude 
the  intrusion  of  controverted  points. 

I  have  been  induced  to  give  these  discourses 
to  the  public  in  their  present  form,  from  the  fact 
that  though  they  have  been  before  printed,  the 
most  of  them  have  scarcely  been  published ;  and 
particularly  with  the  hope  that  I  may  by  this 
means,  speak  more  frequently,  in  their  private 
habitations,  to  those  accustomed  to  my  voice  in 
the  house  of  God. 

*Lord  Bacon. 


PREFACE.  IX 

The  discourses,  with  one  or  two  exceptions, 
have  not  tiie  form  of  religious  addresses  spoken 
to  an  assembly,  and  are  not  introduced  as  such 
addresses  commonly  are,  by  sentences  from  the 
Bible  serving  as  mottoes  or  texts.  To  suit  the 
character  of  the  publications  in  which  they  ap- 
peared, they  were  originally  thus  printed  ;  and  it 
was  not  until  this  reprint  of  them  was  nearly 
completed,  that  I  began  to  regret,  notwithstand- 
ing the  prejudice  which  seems  to  be  prevailing 
against  discourses  so  composed,  that  they  were 
not  remodelled  mto  the  ordinary  homiletical  style. 
I  have  given  the  texts  which  I  would  have  selected, 
had  this  regret  been  prevented  by  earlier  reflec- 
tion, in  the  table  of  contents. 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 
1.  — SPIRITUAL  RELIGION. 
"  Whom  have  I  in  heaven  but  Thee  ?  and  there 
is  none  upon  earth  that  I  desire  besides 
Thee 13 

n.— SPIRITUAL  JOY. 
'•  The  joy  of  the  Lord  is  your  strength,"         .         44 

m.  — DOING  GOOD:  Part  FmsT. 
"Jesus  —  went  about  doing  good,"         .         .         87 

IV.  — DOING  GOOD:  Part  Second. 
"Jesus  —  went  about  doing  good,"         .         .       113 

v.  — CO-OPERATION  WITH  GOD. 
"  We  are  labourers  together  with  God,"  .       142 

VI.  — PRAYER:  Part  First. 
"  What  profit  should  we  have  if  we  pray  unto 

Him?" 183 


XII  CONTENTS. 

VII.— PRAYER:  Part  Second. 
"What  profit  should  we  have  if  we  pray  unto 

Him?" 207 

VUL  — THE  SABBATH. 
"The  Lord  blessed  the  Sabbath  day,"    .         .       227 

IX.  — RESTRAINTS  ON  DIVINE  INFLUENCE. 
"  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord,"        .         .       257 

X.  — THE  FIRST  LAST,  AND  THE  LAST  FIRST. 
The  Parable  of  the  labourers  in  the  vineyard, .       291 


RELIGION   OF  THE   BIBLE. 


SPIRITUAL    RELIGION. 

There  are  three  kinds  of  religion  among 
those  who  call  themselves  Christians.  Of 
one  kind  it  were  well  if  the  world  were 
destitute.  Excepting  by  the  observance  of 
religious  rites  and  solemnities,  it  does  not 
distinguish  the  lives  of  those  who  practise 
it  from  the  lives  of  irreligious  men.  It  is 
the  form  of  godliness  without  its  power : 
the  religion  which  would  serve  at  the  same 
time  two  masters  ;  would  join  light  and 
darkness,  Christ  and  Belial,  believers  and 
infidels  together. 

There  is  another  kind  of  religion  which 
has  been  called  the  middle  path  of  Christi- 
2 


14  RELIGION  OF   THE   BIBLE. 

anity.  It  is  the  religion  manifestly  of  the 
generality  of  those  who  are  considered 
Christians.  It  embraces,  besides  a  profes- 
sion and  the  observance  of  ordinances,  a 
belief  of  the  doctrines,  and  an  irreprehen- 
sible  outward  conformity  to  the  duties  of 
the  Gospel.  But  it  falls  short  of  the  pri- 
vileges of  the  Gospel ;  not  including  those 
lively  hopes  and  anticipations,  those  holy 
joys  and  sorrows,  that  sensible  intercourse 
and  fellowship  with  God  and  Christ,  that 
enrapturing  communion  with  the  Holy  Spi- 
rit, that  vivid  and  permanent  earnest  and 
assurance  of  Heaven,  which  the  Gospel 
warrants  and  encourages  in  every  believer. 
A  third  kind  of  religion  is  that  which 
does  include  these  peculiar  experiences. 
We  would  designate  it  Spiritual  Religion. 
It  is  a  religion  which  can  be  satisfied  with 
nothing  merely  external,  however  blame- 
less and  fair.  The  offering  up  of  prayer 
and  praise,  meditation  in  the  Scriptures, 
attendance  upon  ordinances,  liberality  to- 


SPIRITUAL  RELIGION.  15 

ward  the  poor,  the  utmost  exactness  and 
irreproachableness  of  hfe  —  these  do  not 
meet  its  demands,  unless  there  is  corres- 
pondent sensibihty  and  hfe  in  the  heart. 
There  must  be  a  feehng  of  the  Divine  pres- 
ence ;  a  rehshing  of  the  Divine  excellence ; 
a  heart-assured  persuasion  of  the  Divine 
favour  and  complacency.  God  must  be 
enjoyed ;  or  there  will  be  disquietude  of 
soul,  as  in  the  Patriarch,  "  O  that  I  knew 
where  I  might  find  him ;"  and  in  the  Psalmist, 
"  as  the  hart  panteth  after  the  water-brooks, 
so  panteth  my  soul  after  thee,  O  God." 
If  the  light  of  God's  countenance  ceases 
at  any  time  to  shine  upon  the  soul,  the 
darkness  which  then  covers  it  no  outward 
prosperity  can  dispel ;  its  sorrows  nothing 
can  alleviate.  No  loveliness,  no  excellence 
remains,  when  the  heart  cannot  taste  the 
excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ.  No 
satisfaction  is  taken  in  the  intercourse  of 
the  dearest  friends  when  the  returns  of 
grace  from  the  Holy  Comforter  are  sus- 


16  RELIGION  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

pended.  The  visible  world  is  a  waste 
wilderness  when  the  world  unseen  is  clouded 
or  remote.  There  is  no  peace,  no  pleasure 
in  life,  when  there  is  no  sensible  relish  and 
delight  in  God  and  divine  things. 

The  difference  between  this  last  kind  of 
religion,  and  those  alluded  to  above,  is 
very  apparent  in  examples  of  each.  Every 
one  sees  a  striking  difference  in  the  piety 
of  such  men  as  Leighton,  Baxter,  Ed- 
wards, Brainerd,  and  Martyn,  and  that  of 
the  mass  of  those  who  bear,  and  are  not 
supposed  to  dishonour,  the  Christian  name, 
Dr.  John  Mason  Good,  the  distinguished 
and  excellent  author  of  the  "  Book  of  Na- 
ture," said,  on  his  death  bed,  "I  have  taken 
what  unfortunately  the  generality  of  Chris- 
tians too  much  take  —  I  have  taken  the 
middle  walk  of  Christianity,  I  have  en- 
deavoured to  live  up  to  its  duties  and  doc- 
trines, but  I  have  lived  below  its  privileges," 
The  men  first  mentioned  were  not  content 
to  pursue  what  is  here  called  the  middle 


SPIRITUAL  RELIGION.  17 

walk  of  Christianity.  Their  rehgion  was 
strictly  and  eminently  experimental  and  spi- 
ritual. 

This  kind  of  religion  has  greatly  the 
pre-eminence  above  every  other  in  many 
respects,  some  of  which  will  be  briefly 
considered. 

I.  It  is  Scriptural  reWgion.  The  religion 
of  the  Scriptures  is  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit, 
which  is  "  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering, 
gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness,  tem- 
perance;" embracing  frames  and  disposi- 
tions of  soul  more  agreeable  to  that  lively 
and  affectionate  religion  of  which  we  speak 
than  to  any  other.  Manifestly,  likewise,  is 
this  sort  of  religion  most  congenial  with 
the  view  of  holy  living,  given  us  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, when  they  speak  of  it,  which  they 
constantly  do,  as  walking  with  God ;  having 
fellowship  with  the  Father  and  the  Son ; 
communing  with  the  Spirit ;  walking  after 
the  Spirit ;  walking  in  the  Spirit ;  walking 
in  the  fear  of  the  Lord  and  in  the  comfort 
2* 


18  RELIGION  OF   THE   BIBLE, 

of  the  Holy  Ghost,  —  It  is  most  accordant 
also  with  those  passages  which  call  upon 
the  saints  to  delight  themselves  in  God ;  to 
rejoice  in  the  Lord ;  to  rejoice  in  him  al- 
ways ;  and  which  represent  them  as  having 
peace  with  God,  and  the  love  of  God  shed 
abroad  in  their  hearts ;  as  having  the  witness 
of  the  Spirit  with  their  own  spirit ;  as  walk- 
ing by  faith,  not  by  sight,  looking  more  at 
the  things  of  the  unseen  world  than  at  things 
which  address  themselves  to  their  bodily 
senses.  —  It  is,  moreover,  most  like  the  re- 
ligion of  Scripture  characters ;  as  of  Enoch, 
and  Noahj  and  Abraham,  who  walked  with 
God ;  of  Moses,  and  Samuel,  and  David, 
and  Elijah,  and  Daniel ;  of  the  Apostles 
and  the  first  Christians  also,  as  far  as  their 
history  has  been  written  in  the  Bible.  The 
religion  of  these  men  who  are  held  up  to 
us  as  patterns  and  exemplars,  was  eminently 
a  vital,  affectionate,  spiritual  religion.  They 
conversed  closely  and  delightfully  with  God, 
and  lived  habitually  under  the  light  of  liis 


SPIRITUAL  RELIGION.  19 

countenance,  and  in  the  sensible  enjoyment 
of  his  love. —  But  especially  was  the  per- 
sonal religion  of  Christ  of  this  kind ;  all 
whose  plans  and  principles,  ways  and  move- 
ments, discourses  and  doctrines,  made  it 
manifest,  that  his  heart,  and  spirit,  and  will, 
were  constantly  one  with  the  heart  and 
spirit  and  will  of  God. 

II.  It  is  the  most  rational  kind  of  religion. 
If  the  things  of  religion  are  not  merely  ima- 
ginary, they  ought  in  fitness  and  reason  to 
command  the  whole  heart,  and  rule  the 
whole  inner  and  outv^j  man.  If  they  are 
real,  they  are  comparatively  the  only  real- 
ities ;  all  else  is  shadow  and  illusion.  If 
the  God  of  the  Scriptures,  and  the  objects 
revealed  to  us  in  et  '^-"ity  do  indeed  exist, 
well  may  the  prophet  pronounce  the  world 
and  its  affairs  to  be  less  than  nothing  in 
the  comparison.  Such  objects  then,  so 
transcendently  important  in  themselves, 
ought  to  have  a  correspondent  influence  on 
our  character  and  conduct.     And  what  is 


20  RELIGION  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

such  an  influence  ?  If  that  Being  who  is 
the  infinite  fountain  of  all  being,  who  made 
me,  and  sustains  me  every  moment ;  who, 
in  all  the  glory  of  his  infinite  perfections, 
"  compasses  my  path  and  my  lying  down," 
and  is  ever  with  me ;  the  Being  on  whom 
my  happiness  wholly  depends,  and  from 
whom  my  last  sentence  is  to  proceed  —  if 
he  has  that  influence  on  me  which  his  cha- 
racter and  relations  to  me  ought  to  exert, 
shall  I  not  always  be  in  his  fear ;  shall  I 
not  always  dwell  in  love  to  him ;  and  rejoice 
when  he  smiles  upon  me,  and  be  troubled 
when  he  suspends  the  communications  of 
his  favour  ?  Towards  such  a  Being,  so  re- 
lated to  me  as  God  is,  do  I  not  express  a 
reasonahle  aflfection  when  I  exclaim,  in  the 
ardent  language  of  the  Psalmist,  "  whom 
have  I  in  Heaven  but  thee,  and  there  is 
none  upon  earth  that  I  desire  beside  thee." 
If  I  have  any  love  at  all  for  such  a  Person- 
age, and  one  so  related  to  me  as  Christ, 
ought  I  not  to  be  constrained  by  that  love, 


SPIRITUAL  RELIGION.  21 

a3  Paul  was,  to  live  and  die  to  this  infinite 
benefactor — making  it  my  whole  duty  and 
happiness  to  serve  and  enjoy  him  ?  And 
what  would  be  the  result  upon  my  heart 
and  life,  of  a  reasonable  operation  of  the 
Gospel  upon  them  ?  What  manner  of  per- 
son should  I  be  in  all  holy  conversation  and 
godliness,  if  my  example  were  a  just  tran- 
script of  the  great  truths  of  the  Gospel  ? 
That  religion  has  been  thought  by  some  to 
be  the  most  enlightened  and  reasonable, 
which  has  least  to  do  with  the  affections 
of  the  heart ;  but  never  was  there  a  more 
manifest  mistake.  Reasonableness  in  reli- 
gion is  absorption  of  mind  and  heart  —  the 
whole  man  ruled  and  overborne  by  the 
transcendent  importance  and  glory  of  the 
objects  of  religion.  For  a  man  to  pretend 
to  be  religious,  and  yet  be  cold  and  back- 
ward in  the  concerns  of  religion,  and  con- 
tentedly uncertain  whether  the  infinite  ob- 
jects which  it  discloses  may  not  be  adverse 
to  his  eternal  happiness  —  this  is  not  rea« 


22  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

son,  but  the  supreme  of  inconsistency  and 
stupidity. 

III.  It  is  spiritual  religion  alone  in  which 
the  human  mind  can  find  sensible  and  satis- 
fying enjoyment.  True  religious  enjoyment 
consists  in  a  heartfelt  complacency  in  God 
and  divine  things.  There  is  indeed  a  feel- 
ing of  quietude  arising  from  the  regular  dis- 
charge of  moral  duties,  and  the  routine  of 
religious  observances,  which  is  not  spirit- 
ual joy  or  peace,  but  the  fruit  of  predom- 
inant self-righteousness  and  fatal  delusion. 
It  implies  a  great  abiding  spiritual  apathy 
and  thoughtlessness ;  for  if  sensibility  were 
awake,  and  thought  intelligently  exercised 
on  the  person's  habitual  course  of  life,  a 
general  worldhness  of  spirit  would  be  seen 
to  pollute  and  vitiate  the  services  of  reli- 
gion ;  and  then  these  services,  instead  of 
yielding  hope  and  comfort,  would  conspire 
with  other  things  to  work  fear,  and  doubt, 
and  misery,  in  the  heart.  —  There  is,  how- 
ever, a  hope  of  Heaven  different  from  that 


SPIRITUAL   RELIGION.  23 

of  the  self-righteous,  which  springs  from 
reflection  on  the  general  tenour  of  our  con- 
duct, regarded  as  an  evidence  of  our  spirit- 
ual character  and  state.  This  probably  is 
the  hope  of  the  mass  of  professed  Chris- 
tians. We  speak  not  against  it,  except  by 
lamenting  that  it  should  be  made  so  gener- 
ally the  measure  of  spiritual  enjoyment. 
What  is  the  amount  of  positive  happiness 
that  a  hope  of  this  kind  yields  ?  It  is  not 
the  assurance  of  hope  —  the  living,  refresh- 
ing, soul-elevating  hope  of  the  first  Chris- 
tians. It  does  not  preclude  doubt,  but 
only  despair.  It  leaves  its  subjects  uncer- 
tain of  their  state.  They  are  not  sure  of 
their  calling  and  election.  The  Spirit  does 
not  so  "  witness  with  their  spirits  "  but  that 
they  remain  halting,  hesitating,  trembling, 
in  respect  to  their  final  sentence  ;  or  if  not 
trembling,  wondering  that  they  do  not, 
amidst  their  want  of  satisfying  evidence. 
Such  is  the  general  feelings  of  professed 
Christians,  in  respect  to  their  character 


24  RELIGION   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

and  prospects  for  eternity  —  and  such,  or 
worse  than  this,  must  necessarily  be  the 
feehng  of  all  who  do  not  cultivate  and  ex- 
ercise a  spiritual  religion.  Nothing  but  a 
sensible,  living,  joyous  intercourse  with  God 
and  Christ  and  the  things  of  the  Spirit,  can 
wholly  displace  anxiety  or  even  torment  from 
the  heart.  Without  this  there  may  be  self- 
complacency,  there  may  be  delusion,  there 
may  be  negative  hope  mingled  with  fear ;  but 
a  soul-satisfying  evidence  of  present  accep- 
tableness  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  of  ulti- 
mate admission  into  the  joys  of  his  king- 
dom, there  cannot  be,  without  the  pleasur- 
able consciousness  of  the  reality  and  excel- 
lency of  heavenly  things.  This  conscious- 
ness is  a  witness  that  cannot  be  resisted ; 
it  is  itself  the  earnest  and  foretaste  of  eter- 
nal life,  and  can  no  more  co-exist  with 
doubt,  than  the  consciousness  of  an  out- 
ward world  can  co-exist  with  hesitation  as 
to  the  reality  of  such  a  world.  Let  a  man 
feel  habitual  love  to  God  —  let  him  feel  the 


SPIRITUAL   RELIGION.  25 

peace  of  God  in  his  heart  —  let  him  feel 
the  Spirit  of  Christ  living  in  him  — let 
him  have  conscious  delight  in  the  truths 
and  promises  of  the  Gospel,  and  he  will 
then  enjoy  evidences  of  his  state,  which  will 
displace  every  doubt,  and  yield  him  "  glory 
begun  below."  If  therefore  we  would  have 
a  religion  full  of  comforts  and  pleasures,  a 
religion  which  will  yield  us  solid  satis- 
faction, let  us  fix  our  minds,  not  on  that 
customary  religion  which  rests  in  periodi- 
cal services  and  outward  strictness,  but  on 
a  religion  of  intimate,  sensible,  living  com- 
munion and  intercourse  with  God. 

IV.  This  is  the  only  kind  of  religion 
which  perceptibly  advances  the  soul  in  the 
life  and  likeness  of  God.  They  who  sensi- 
bly commune  with  God,  and  keep  their 
hearts  alive  to  the  excellency  of  divine 
things,  from  day  to  day,  cannot  but  become 
more  and  more  assimilated  to  those  glori- 
ous objects.  These  objects  operating  up- 
on susceptible  and  affectionate  minds,  must 
3 


2'6  RELIGION  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

make  upon  them  their  own  impression 
and  image ;  and  that  image  must  at  length 
become  too  resplendent  in  the  spirit  and 
life,  to  leave  it  doubtful  whether  there  has 
been  progress  and  growth  in  grace.  Men 
of  spiritual  religion,  therefore,  must  be  ad- 
vancing, as  time  passes,  toward  the  meas- 
ure of  the  stature  of  a  perfect  Christian. 
In  their  views,  feelings,  and  conversation, 
they  must  be  rising  nearer  and  nearer  to 
"  the  just  made  perfect."  The  beauty  of 
holiness  must  be  gradually  brightening  up- 
on them,  and  their  affinity  and  relationship 
to  Heaven  must  be  becoming  increasingly 
manifest.  It  must  be  so,  by  the  very  laws 
of  such  intercourse,  as  they  maintain  with 
heavenly  objects ;  and  that  it  is  so  in  fact,  no 
one  can  be  ignorant.  These  men,  of  what- 
ever country  or  age,  do  advance  in  nloral 
worth  and  loveliness,  as  they  advance  in 
years.  Time  invigorates  them  in  all  the 
principles,  and  beautifies  them  in  all  the 
graces  of  holiness.      Even  while   "their 


SPIRITUAL  RELIGION.  27 

outward  man  perishes  "  —  while  the  animal 
vivacity  and  vigour  of  their  earher  years  de- 
cay, "  they  are  renewed  in  the  inward  man, 
day  by  day."  Was  it  not  thus  with  all  the 
spiritually-minded,  whose  names  we  have 
mentioned,  or  of  whom  we  have  ever  read 
or  heard  ?  But  the  same  cannot  be  truly 
said  of  men  of  other  kinds  of  religion.  They 
are,  in  regard  to  religion  and  hohness,  lit- 
tle better  at  one  time  than  at  another. 
Take  them  when  you  will,  in  the  middle  of 
life,  or  in  old  age,  they  are  not,  as  far  as 
man  can  see,  much  improved  in  spirit. 
Their  hearts  do  not  seem  to  be  much  more 
in  Heaven ;  their  affections  do  not  appear 
to  be  more  spiritual ;  their  devotedness  to 
God  and  his  interests  does  not  seem  increas- 
ed. Call  to  mind  instances  of  the  customary 
sort  of  religion  —  think  of  those  whose  reli- 
gion is  of  this  kind,  and  consider  whether 
these  remarks  are  not  exemplified  in  their 
conduct.  Do  they  present  themselves  to  our 
thoughts  as  Christians   advancing  in  the 


28  RELIGION  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

life  of  God  ?  Are  they  evidently  holier  men 
now  than  they  were  some  years  ago  ?  Do  we 
feel  more  confident  of  their  final  salvation 
at  this  moment  than  we  did  when  they  first 
professed  conversion?  Is  it  more  certain 
now  —  more  certain  to  themselves  or  to 
any  others  —  that  they  will  be  saved,  than 
it  was  then?  Alas,  it  is  well  if  the  proba- 
bility of  their  final  salvation  is  not  dimin- 
ished. Professed  Christians  who  have  not 
a  spiritual  and  affectionate  religion,  often 
degenerate,  but  seldom  improve.  It  is  not 
merely  praying,  or  reading,  or  hearing,  that 
profits  the  soul,  hut  just  feelifig  toward  the 
objects  with  which  the  soul  converses,  or 
should  converse,  in  prayer,  reading,  and 
hearing.  These  exercises  are  nothing,  ex- 
cept as  sensibility  of  heart  pervades  and  an- 
imates them.  It  is  by  this  sensibility,  that 
God  and  our  own  spirits  come  into  union 
and  fellowship.  It  is  by  this,  that  our  souls 
mingle  with  the  invisible  things  of  the  sanc- 
tifying Spirit.     Two   lifeless   masses   are 


SPIRITUAL  RELIGION.  29 

not  more  inoperative  on  each  other,  than 
the  unseen  world  on  the  human  character, 
if  sensibihty  toward  that  world  is  wanting. 
We  may  speak,  and  read,  and  think,  but  we 
shall  never  be  made  better,  if  we  do  not  feel. 

Now  when  we  remember  what  the  Scrip- 
tures teach  concerning  the  essential  pro- 
gressiveness  of  true  grace  in  the  heart,  that 
it  is  as  the  little  "  leaven  which  leaveneth 
the  whole  lump ;"  and  join  with  this  the 
fact,  that  professed  Christians  who  are  not 
spiritual  in  their  feelings,  do  not  visibly  ad- 
vance in  the  divine  life,  can  we  rest  satisfi- 
ed with  a  religion  like  theirs  ?  Is  it  by  any 
means  certain  that  their  religion  will  save 
the  soul? 

V.  Spiritual  religion  is  far  more  useful 
than  any  other.  Usefulness  depends  on 
three  things,  —  power,  readiness  to  use  it, 
and  using  it  in  a  proper  manner ;  and  no 
kind  of  religion  includes  these  things  in  so 
eminent  a  degree  as  the  spiritual  religion 
of  which  we  speak.  —  There  is  more 
3* 


30  RELIGION  OF  THE  BIBLE 

power  in  this  than  in  any  other  sort  of  reli- 
gion. Knowledge  is  power  in  rehgious 
concerns  as  well  as  every  other ;  and  there 
is  no  religion  so  favourable  as  this  to  the 
acquisition  of  divine  knowledge.  Men  may 
be  led  to  pursue  such  knowledge  by  curios- 
ity, ambition,  and  other  motives ;  but  the 
attainments  so  made  will  be  superficial, 
when  compared  with  the  illumination  shed 
down  from  the  Holy  Spirit  into  the  mind 
and  heart  of  the  spiritually  discerning  and 
inquiring  Christian.  How  sure  and  sub- 
stantial, how  deep  and  enduring,  is  the 
knowledge  of  the  spiritually-minded,  in 
comparison  with  theirs  who  know  every 
thing  in  speculation  only.  And  ordinarily 
their  knowledge  is  greater,  as  well  as  of  a 
better  kind.  They  meditate  more  in  the 
Scriptures,  they  reflect  more,  they  pray 
more,  and  the  relish  for  divine  things  which 
inclines  them  to  do  so,  makes  them  quick 
of  spiritual  understanding,  and  thus  be- 
comes the  means  of  a  more  rapid  growth 


SPIRITUAL  RELIGION.  31 

in  divine  knowledge  than  would  otherwise 
be  possible.  And  as  the  religion  of  which 
we  treat  joins  to  greater  knowledge,  greater 
grace  and  hohness,  which  likewise  is  the 
highest  kind  of  power,  it  must,  in  respect 
to  its  intrinsic  strength  and  efficiency,  be 
incomparably  superior  to  every  other. 

But  not  only  have  the  men  of  this  reli- 
gion more  strength,  they  are  also  more  dis- 
jjosed  to  use  their  strength  than  others.  It 
is  a  false  notion  of  spiritual-mindedness, 
that  it  inclines  men  to  a  secluded  and  inac- 
tively contemplative  life.  It  had  not  this 
tendency  in  Christ  and  his  apostles,  or  the 
prophets ;  the  influence  of  whose  mighty 
labours  is  felt  over  the  world  to  this  day. 
Spiritual-mindedness  is  nothing  but  a  living 
and  efficient  benevolence,  duly  awake  and 
active.  From  the  secret  place  of  the  Most 
High,  in  which  it  dwells,  it  looks  abroad 
upon  the  sensual  world  with  a  self-sacrific- 
ing, self-devoting  compassion,  like  that  of 
our  blessed  Saviour ;  and  is  ever  ready  to 


32  RELIGION  OF   THE   BIBLE. 

go  forth,  in  his  spirit  and  strength,  to  every 
work  of  faith  and  love.  Customary  reU- 
gion,  and  even  principles  of  natural  good- 
ness, have  led  men  to  practise  some  forms 
of  benevolence  ;  but  it  is  spiritual-minded- 
ness  that  has  cared  for  the  bodies  and  souls 
of  men  on  the  largest  scale,  and  has 
wrought  miracles  of  mercy  and  love,  the 
record  of  which  will  endure  longer  than 
the  sun  and  the  moon. 

But  the  religion  here  recommended  is 
pre-eminent,  as  we  have  already  said,  not 
only  in  power  and  in  aptitude  to  use  that 
power,  but  in  the  excellence  of  the  manner 
in  which  it  uses  it.  It  is  both  in  labours 
more  abundant,  and  in  wisdom  and  pro- 
priety of  action  more  perfect.  It  does  its 
work  aptly,  skilfully,  prudently,  with  a  spirit 
congenial  to  its  ends ;  a  spirit  of  meekness 
and  love,  and  dependence  on  God.  In  the 
highest  instances  and  sorts  of  benevolent 
labour,  men  of  little  spirituality  would  not 
find  themselves  in  their  proper  element. 


SPIRITUAL  RELIGION.  33 

The  unsuitableness  of  their  spirit  and  man- 
ner would  make  their  work  irksome,  and 
mischief  might  be  the  result.  How  much 
out  of  place  do  such  men  find  themselves 
under  remarkable  effusions  of  the  Holy 
Spirit;  when  the  accessions  to  the  happi- 
ness of  the  universe  are  as  the  "  clouds, 
and  as  when  doves  fly  to  their  windows." 
It  is  spirituality  alone  that  can  make  men 
as  "  polished  shafts  "  to  the  consciences  of 
their  fellow-men  at  such  seasons.  It  is 
only  this,  indeed,  which  can  ensure  a  right 
and  successful  way  of  fulfilling  any  of  the 
offices  of  the  hohest  and  noblest  order  of 
well-doing. 

These  things  demonstrate  the  superior 
usefulness  of  the  spiritual  kind  of  reli- 
gion. Observation  also  confirms  this  con- 
clusion. One  spiritual  Christian  in  a 
church  is  often  more  useful  than  a  hundred 
ordinary  professors.  How  many  hundred 
Christians  of  the  common  kind  would  be 
required  to  make,  in  point  of  usefulness, 
one  Baxter,  or  Edwards,  or  Martyn.  These, 


34  RELIGION  OP  THE  BIBLE. 

it  is  true,  were  men  of  powerful  minds  ;  but 
it  was  their  superior  spirituality  that  made 
their  power  the  means  of  exalting  the  ages 
in  which  they  lived.  There  were  other 
professed  Christians  of  minds  as  powerful 
and  of  learning  as  great  as  theirs,  who  did 
very  little  toward  advancing  the  cause  of 
holiness  in  the  world.  If  then  we  would 
pass  our  days  in  the  most  useful  manner  — 
if  we  would  give  the  church  and  our  genera- 
tion the  greatest  reason  to  bless  God  for  our 
existence,  let  our  religion  be  of  the  spiritual 
kind. 

VI.  This  kind  of  religion  will  best  sustain 
us  under  evil.  He  who  is  accustomed  to 
converse  affectionately  and  delightfully  with 
God  —  to  lay  open  his  heart  to  the  influ- 
ence of  His  "  excellent  glory  "  and  of  eter- 
nal objects,  will  acquire  a  capacity  of  en- 
during evil,  altogether  peculiar  to  himself. 
His  frame  of  spirit,  and  the  blessedness  of 
that  intercourse,  make  him  in  a  manner  in- 
vulnerable to  evil.  The  day  of  trouble  to  the 


SPIRITUAL  RELIGION.  35 

man  of  the  world  is  insupportable,  because, 
besides  the  evil  of  his  unholy  spirit,  he  has  no 
counterbalancing  good  in  prospect.  Past 
prosperity  cannot  be  recalled ;  the  future  is 
unknown,  and  may  be  worse  than  the  pre- 
sent. The  unspiritual,  unexercised  pro- 
fessor of  religion,  too,  may  not  be  prepared 
for  that  day :  the  hope  which  now  sup- 
ports him  may  fail  him  then.  He  will  then 
need  other  evidences  of  the  divine  favour 
than  those  on  which  he  is  accustomed  to 
rely  ;  evidences  which  may  not  be  afforded 
him  then,  as  they  are  not  sought  for  now. 
But  the  spiritual  Christian  is  not  thus  for- 
lorn in  heart  when  his  time  of  trial  comes. 
The  feeling  toward  God  expressed  by  the 
Psalmist,  "  whom  have  I  in  heaven  but  thee, 
and  there  is  none  upon  earth  that  I  desire 
beside  thee,"  having  been  habitual  with 
him  even  in  the  days  of  prosperity,  he  will 
not  be  desponding  and  heart-smitten  now ; 
for  God,  his  chosen  portion,  remains  the 
same,  and  his  delight  in  God  is  the  same 


36  RELIGION  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

also :  and  how  small  a  loss  can  befall  that 
person,  how  little  can  he  be  injured  by  any 
calamity  in  the  whole  creation,  whose  hap- 
piness was  not  in  the  creation,  but  in  its 
infinite  Author.  Besides,  if  there  is  a  man 
to  whom  the  Father  of  compassion  will 
show  himself  especm%  gracious  in  the  hour 
of  need,  that  man,  doubtless,  is  the  spirit- 
ually-minded Christian.  Who  is  an  heir 
of  the  promises,  if  he  is  not  ?  Whom,  if 
not  him,  does  God  love  and  delight  in  ? 
There  may  be  room  for  doubt  whether  other 
sorts  of  professed  Christians,  —  all  other 
sorts,  —  may  not  be  deceivers  or  deceived  ; 
but  who  doubts  Us  piety  who  lives  a  spirit- 
ual and  heavenly  life  ?  Such  persons  are 
assuredly  the  children  of  God,  whom  God 
will  not  forsake  in  times  of  trouble. 
The  night  of  their  affliction  shall  be  as  the 
brightest  and  best  of  their  prosperous  days. 
They  shall  glorify  God  in  "  passing  through 
the  fire;"  their  end  shall  be  peace,  and 
they  shall  depart,  leaving  mankind  impress- 


SPIRITUAL  RELIGION.  37 

ed  with  the  certainty,  that  whoever  may 
find  their  hope  of  ukimate  happiness  disap- 
pointed, these  men  were  more  fit  for  heaven 
than  for  earth,  and  "  have  passed  through 
the  gate  into  the  city "  of  God, 

These  are  some  of  the  considerations 
which  show  what  manner  of  persons  we  all 
should  be  who  call  ourselves  by  the  name 
of  Christ.  —  But  there  is  one  objection  which 
we  fear  will  weigh  more  with  some  per- 
sons than  all  these  considerations,  however 
solemn  and  conclusive  :  it  is,  that  the 
religion  we  recommend  is  not  a  practicable 
one.  It  may  do  perhaps  for  a  very  few  pecu- 
liarly favoured  and  peculiarly  situated  per- 
sons, but  it  will  not  answer  for  the  generality 
of  mankind  —  it  is  too  refined,  too  elevated, 
too  difficult  a  religion  for  the  mass  of  the 
people.  It  is  not,  we  suppose,  the  import  of 
this  objection,  that  this  is  a  different  reli- 
gion from  that  which  the  Scriptures  teach. 
The  scriptural  certificate  to  this  religion 
we  have  already  presented.  If  there  is  a 
4 


38  RiiLIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

religion  on  earth  that  corresponds  to  the 
very  rehgion  of  the  Bible,  it  is  unquestion- 
ably this.  Other  religions  may  not  be 
scriptural,  but  no  one  can  doubt  whether 
this  religion  is  either  scriptural  or  true. 
The  evidences  of  its  genuineness  are  like 
the  sun's  meridian  beams.  The  conscience 
of  the  world  decides  that  it  is  genuine  — 
the  religion  of  the  Bible  —  the  religion  of 
God  —  the  religion  which  God  has  revealed 
to  man  as  the  sure  way  to  Heaven.  But 
has  God  bound  his  creatures  to  an  imprac- 
ticable kind  of  religion  ?  Or  has  he  pre- 
scribed a  religion  for  all  the  world,  Avhich 
cannot  be  practised  by  more  than  one  man 
in  a  million  ?  It  is  obvious  that  if  the  ob- 
jection means  that  the  religion  which, 
beyond  all  others,  has  the  best  claim  to  be 
received  as  the  religion  of  the  Scriptures, 
is  strictly,  and  in  plain  truth,  an  impracti- 
cable religion  to  the  bulk  of  mankind,  the 
objection  is  profane  and  reproachful  to  the 
divine  goodness  and  wisdom,  and  can  hard- 


SPIRITUAL   RELIGION.  39 

ly  find  a  welcome  lodgement  in  any  other 
than  an  unholy  breast.  No  !  the  fact  that 
this  religion  is  practicable  by  one  man, 
proves  it  to  be  practicable  by  any  and  every 
other  man.  If  any  one  man  has  ever  ex- 
emplified this  religion,  the  matter  is  at  rest : 
ma7i  may  exemplify  it :  it  is  a  religion  for 
man,  and  a  religion  which  every  man  is 
bound  to  exemplify.  It  should  be  consid- 
ered by  those  who  make  this  objection, 
that  they  are  limiting,  not  merely  the  phys- 
ical capability  of  man,  but  the  resources 
of  the  Holy  One  Himself.  The  question 
as  to  practicability  —  the  true  question  is, 
not  whether  I,  in  my  own  strength,  shall 
succeed  in  practising  this  religion,  but 
whether  the  Spirit  and  grace  of  God  can 
enable  me  to  practise  it. 

We  are  not  required  to  do  any  thing  in 
reliance  on  our  own  strength,  which  truly 
would  fail  us,  even  for  the  exercise  of  a 
good  thought.  On  the  contrary,  we  are 
warned  against  self-confidence,  as  the  cer- 


40  RELIGION  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

tain  way  to  be  ruined,  and  are  directed  to 
Him  for  strength  in  whom  it  hath  pleased 
the  Father  that  "  all  fulness  should  dwell ;" 
and  certain  it  is  that  destruction  awaits  us, 
if  we  do  not  go  to  Him,  and  put  our  exclu- 
sive trust  in  the  provision  made  for  us  in 
Him.  The  question  is  this,  is  there  not  a 
sufficiency  for  us  in  all  the  fulness  of  the 
Godhead?  Can  we  not  do  all  things  in- 
cluded in  this  religion  "  through  Christ 
strengthening  us  ?"  Is  there  a  man  on  earth 
whom  Christ  cannot  strengthen  to  live  the 
life  of  a  spiritual  Christian  ?  Let  this  be 
demonstrated — let  the  arm  of  the  Almighty 
be  shortened  —  and  then  may  it  be  affirmed 
that  the  religion  we  contend  for  is  not  a 
practicable  religion.  The  truth  is  that  the 
generality  of  professed  Christians  never 
strive  for,  never  aim  at,  this  kind  of  religion. 
It  is  not  in  their  hearts  deliberately  to  pur- 
pose and  intend  that  this  religion  shall  be 
theirs.  They  content  themselves  with  what 
is  customary  ;  and  that,  for  the  most  part, 


SPIRITUAL   RELIGION.  41 

is  to  be  as  religious  as  expediency  or  per- 
sonal convenience  may  dictate.  What  la- 
bours, what  pains-taking  do  they  practise, 
to  keep  themselves  in  the  love  and  fear  of 
God  all  the  day  long  ?  What  care  do  they 
exercise  not  to  grieve  the  Holy  Spirit  ? 
What  aspirations  of  soul  have  they  for 
eminent  holiness  of  heart  ?  What  forget- 
ting do  we  see  in  them,  of  the  things  which 
are  behind;  or  what  reaching  forth  unto 
those  which  are  before  ?  What  mortifica- 
tions of  the  flesh ;  what  fastings  and  watch- 
ings  unto  prayer  do  they  practise  ?  Who 
then  are  they  that  pronounce  spiritual  Chris- 
tianity to  be  impracticable,  but  those  who 
have  never  put  it  to  the  test  of  experiment  ? 
It  must  be  confessed,  that  if  professed 
Christians  will  not  try  and  intend  to  live 
spiritually,  they  cannot  live  so.  Paul  could 
not  have  lived  so  without  deliberate  purpose 
and  constant  effort. 

Still,  some  will  think  that  although  spirit- 
ual religion  is  the  best  and  safest  kind,  yet 
4* 


42  RELIGION  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

as  the  more  common  sort  may  suffice,  they 
will  content  themselves  with  that.  But 
does  not  this  savour  more  of  a  low  and  cal- 
culating selfishness,  than  of  that  spirit  of 
regeneracy  which  instinctively  pants  after 
entire  freedom  from  sin,  and  entire  con- 
formity to  the  image  of  God  ?  Have  those 
persons  any  true  holiness  who  desire  no 
more  than  may  answer  to  keep  them  out  of 
the  world  of  wo  ?  But  is  it  certain  that  the 
common  sort  of  religion  will  suffice  ?  Who 
feels  certain  of  it  ?  Have  the  professors  of 
that  religion  an  assurance  of  their  salvation  ? 
Their  hearts  answer,  No  !  Has  the  world 
any  assurance  of  their  salvation  ?  All  men 
stand  in  doubt — and  it  is  indeed  a  doubtful 
matter.  St.  Paul  thought  he  should  be  a  cast- 
away if  he  did  not  keep  his  body  under 
and  bring  it  into  subjection.  Do  these  pro- 
fessors of  religion  practise  such  discipline 
on  themselves,  that  their  souls  may  not  be 
lost?  Who  would  stand  in  their  souls' 
stead  ?   In  the  infinite  concerns  of  religion, 


SPIRITUAL    RELIGION.  43 

no  uncertainty,  no  suspense  of  mind  ought 
to  be  tolerated,  if  it  can  possibly  be  pre- 
vented ;  and  prevented  it  may  be,  by  giving 
due  diligence  to  that  end.  And  the  need- 
ful diligence  in  this  case  is  not  more  than 
men  generally  employ  to  secure  worldly 
things.  But  shall  men  —  shall  professors 
of  religion,  use  more  diligence  to  secure  to 
themselves  things  that  perish  in  the  using, 
than  to  lay  hold  on  eternal  life  ?  Are  such 
men  Christians  ?  Must  we  not  tremble  at 
the  question ! 

Thus  irresistible  and  overwhelming,  are 
the  arguments  for  spiritual  religion. 
Should  we  venture  upon  any  other  ?  Des- 
titute of  this  kind  of  religion,  is  there  a 
man  living  who,  for  a  thousand  worlds, 
would  take  our  place  at  death  or  judgement  ? 


II. 

SPIRITUAL  JOY. 


Expounding  the  rule  of  duty  to  those  who 
have  violated  it,  tends  in  the  first  instance, 
if  they  have  ingenuous  minds,  to  exercise 
them  with  sorrow,  but  that  sorrow  ends  in 
joy.  The  children  of  the  captivity,  who 
by  warrant  from  the  king  of  Persia,  returned 
to  the  land  of  their  fathers,  had  for  a  long 
time  been  destitute  of  spiritual  instruction, 
and  almost  as  a  matter  of  course  had  fallen 
into  spiritual  insensibility  and  unconcern. 
But  they  were  somehow  led  to  gather  them- 
selves together,  as  one  man,  to  hear  the 
word  of  God ;  *  and  Ezra  the  Scribe,  w  ith 
certain  Levites,  his  assistants,  read  in  the 

*  Nehemiah  8:1. 


SPIRITUAL  JOY.  45 

book  of  the  law  of  God  distinctly,  and  gave 
the  sense,  and  caused  the  people  to  under- 
stand the  reading.  The  effect  was,  —  an 
illustrious  instance  of  the  heart-melting 
power  of  divine  truth,  —  a  deep  sense  of 
sin  in  the  entire  assembly.  All  the  people 
wept,  when  they  heard  the  words  of  the  law. 
An  unusual  spectacle  in  this  hardhearted 
world  !  An  immense  concourse  of  men  all 
in  tears  before  God  on  account  of  their 
sins  !  Well  might  the  ministers  of  religion 
hasten  to  fulfil  the  commission,  Comfort 
ye,  comfort  ye  my  people,  saith  your  God, 
It  is  needful  that  sinful  men  should  sorrow, 
but  there  is  nothing  desirable  in  sorrow  on 
its  own  account,  and  God  works  it  in  his 
chosen,  only  that  by  means  of  it,  he  may 
open  a  fit  channel  into  their  breasts  for  the 
consolations  of  his  Spirit  to  flow  in.  Hence 
Nehemiah  the  Tirshatha,  and  Ezra  the 
Priest,  the  Scribe,  and  the  teaching  Levites, 
dismissed  that  great  assembly  of  mourners 
with  these  gracious  words :     This  day  is 


46  RELIGION  OP  THE  BIBLE. 

holy  to  the  Lord  your  God:  mourn  not,  nor 
weep  :  go  your  way,  eat  the  fat  and  drink 
the  sweet,  and  send  portions  to  them  for  whom 
nothing  is  prepared  ;  for  this  day  is  holy  unto 
our  Lord  ;  neither  be  ye  sorry,  for  the  joy 
OF  THE  Lord  is  your  strength. 

As  is  the  sorrow  of  a  penitent  heart,  such 
is  the  nature  of  the  joy  to  which  it  leads. 
Both  are  the  fruit  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  There 
are  joys  of  a  different  kind.  There  is  a 
natural  joy  which  one  feels  after  escaping 
out  of  great  danger,  or  being  unexpectedly 
blessed  with  worldly  good.  There  is  also 
a  religious  joy  which  springs  from  mistaken 
impressions.  These  are  not  the  joy  of  the 
Lord ;  they  are  but  for  a  moment ;  they 
pass  away,  and  leave  the  heart  void,  deso- 
late, and  despairing.  The  joy  of  the  Lord, 
the  same  which  fills  the  eternal  mind,  is 
the  only  joy  that  meets  the  desires  and  exi- 
gencies of  any  rational  being.  To  all  ra- 
tional minds,  of  God,  angels  and  men,  there 
is  but  one  true  happiness.     Angels  are  not 


SPIRITUAL    JOY.  47 

happy,  and  men  are  not  happy,  unless  they 
share  the  happiness  of  Him  who  is  over 
all,  blessed  forever.  With  Him  is  the 
fountain  of  life;  —  not  a  rill,  not  a  drop  of 
bliss  in  the  universe,  which  that  fountain 
does  not  yield.  They  who  go  elsewhere 
for  happiness,  wander  into  boundless  des- 
erts, where  all  is  drought,  and  burning 
winds,  and  vast  desolation.  What  is  the 
exhilaration  of  the  animal  spirits,  what  mere 
intellectual  delight,  what  the  pleasures  of 
sin,  the  utmost  indulgence  of  the  lust  of  the 
flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eye,  and  the  pride  of 
life,  to  that  immortal  spirit  in  man  which 
bears  the  image,  and  pants  for  the  blessed- 
ness of  God  ?  How  can  a  man  be  called 
happy,  when  almost  every  thing  belonging 
to  him  that  raises  him  above  the  brute,  is 
either  wholly  portionless,  or  is  tantalized 
with  what  is  no  more  suited  to  its  nature, 
than  shadows  or  dreams  to  sustain  the 
bodily  life  ? 

And  now  what  is  this  joy  of  the  Lord  ? 
It  is  joy  arising  from  the  same  causes,  ter- 


48  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

minating  on  the  same  objects,  and  yielding 
the  same  results  as  that  which  the  infinite 
Being  himself  possesses,  without  measure. 
Its  spring  is  holiness  ;  its  objects  are  the 
divine  perfections  and  works ;  its  results 
are  the  various  forms  of  true  beneficence 
and  kindness.  It  is  the  joy  of  holy  love  ; 
of  complacency  in  God  and  goodness,  and 
of  benevolence  to  his  creatures.  It  is  de- 
light, sensible  and  satisfying  delight,  such 
as  forms  the  boundless  and  fathomless 
ocean  of  heavenly  beatitude.  As  existing 
in  sinners  of  mankind,  its  precursor  ordi- 
narily, as  has  been  intimated,  is  holy  sor- 
row ;  and  its  medium  is  a  living  union  with 
Christ,  by  faith.  It  is,  as  shared  by  them, 
the  purchase  of  the  Saviour's  precious 
blood,  and  the  fruit  of  the  renewing  influ- 
ence of  the  Spirit  of  God, 

Our  object,  however,  at  present  is  not  so 
much  to  describe  this  feeling,  as  to  show 
the  power  of  it,  as  a  practical  principle. 
The  joy  of  the  Lord  is  our  strength.    It 


SPIRITUAL  JOY.  49 

is  the  spring  of  our  greatest  efficiency  for 
good  ;  the  great  mover  and  inciter  of  the 
soul  to  holy  action  and  achievement ;  the 
sustainer  also  of  our  energies  in  accom- 
plishing our  benevolent  undertakings;  what, 
above  all  things  keeps  the  mind  going  cheer- 
fully forward  in  its  spiritual  efforts  and  ad- 
ventures, and  bears  it  on  without  fainting 
or  weariness  to  a  successful  issue  of  its 
struggles  and  conflicts.  We  propose  to 
ofl?er  a  few  remarks  in  illustration  of  this 
sentiment. 

Joy  is  the  achiever  of  almost  every  good 
or  noble  thing  which  is  done  under  the  sun. 
There  is  nothing  like  it  to  make  the  spirit 
of  man  erect,  resolute,  persevering,  patient, 
and  indefatigable.  Almost  universally, 
where  there  is  great  labour,  at  least  avail- 
able labour,  there  is  also  great  mental  de- 
light. The  exceptions  do  but  confirm  the 
general  principle.  Men  may  be  impelled 
to  labour  by  ambition,  by  necessity,  by 
fear,  by  avarice;  but  unless  their  labour 
5 


50  RELIGION   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

becomes  itself  delight,  what  great  thing,  or 
noble  thing,  or  what  thing  worthy  of  their 
pains,  do  they  ordinarily  accomplish  ?  Con- 
sult the  sons  of  the  muses,  the  toilers  at 
deep  investigation  and  exact  analysis,  the 
makers  of  those  books,  —  the  best  products 
of  human  labour,  —  that  come  forth  into  the 
community  like  living  luminaries  to  pour 
the  li^ht  and  heat  of  mind  throu^rh  acres  to 
come  :  Consult  all  successful  artists,  ju- 
rists, statesmen,  merchants,  and  agricultur- 
ists; and  you  will  find,  that  these  several 
classes  o^  labourers  are  held  to  their  re- 
spective sorts  of  work,  mainly  by  the  chord 
of  sensible  delight  or  pleasurable  interest 
in  the  object  of  attention.  Who  would  an- 
ticipate brilliant  success  from  any  course 
of  exertion  in  which  the  man  went  forward 
under  some  other  impulse  than  that  of 
lively  interest  in  his  work  ?  Where  there 
is  no  delight,  the  heart  will  not  be  found  ; 
and  what  can  a  man  do  in  one  sphere,  when 
his  heart  is  in  another?     But  we  need  not 


SPIRITUAL  JOY.  51 

enlarge  on  this  point.  All  men  see  it,  feel 
it,  perfectly  understand  it.  It  is  responded 
to  at  once  from  the  breast  of  every  one. 

Now,  our  remark  is  this,  that  the  princi- 
ple is  as  true  in  its  application  to  man's 
moral  agency,  as  to  his  physical  or  intel- 
lectual. It  is  joy,  for  the  most  part,  that 
makes  men  industrious  and  indefatigable 
in  the  fulfilment  of  moral  claims  and  un- 
dertakings. This  is  the  great  principle  of 
Christian  attainment ;  of  holy  zeal  and  en- 
terprise in  the  people  of  God.  Why 
should  it  not  be  so  ?  Would  it  not  be  sur- 
prising and  unaccountable  to  find  it  other- 
wise /  Should  we  not  ask  with  wonder, 
how  is  it  that  a  principle  which  holds  good 
in  every  other  department  of  rational  agen- 
cy, should  fail  in  this  department?  Are 
the  laws  of  nature  violated  in  the  spiritual 
kingdom  ?  No ;  reason  requires  us  to  be- 
lieve that  this  is  the  very  sphere  in  which, 
above  all  others,  the  efficiency  of  this  in- 
fluence is  discovered.     The  influence  itself 


52  RELIGION  OP  THE  BIBLE. 

exists  here  in  a  far  nobler  kind,  than  any- 
where else.  The  joy  of  the  Lord  is  as  far 
above  all  other  kinds  of  joy,  as  holiness  is 
better  than  other  kinds  of  excellence.  The 
just  conclusion  is,  that  the  effects  of  this 
joy  are  proportionately  superior ;  the  con- 
clusion of  common  sense,  confirmed  by 
the  universal  testimony  of  Scripture  and 
experience.  It  may  however  be  useful,  to 
enter  somewhat  particularly  into  an  exam- 
ination of  the  tendencies  of  this  feeling  ; 
to  inquire,  in  several  instances,  into  the 
ways  in  which  its  efficacy  is  exerted  and 
discovered. 

We  observe  then,  in  the  first  place,  that 
joy  gives  life  and  spirit  to  all  the  mental 
powers  and  operations.  A  delighted  mind 
is  full  of  brightness  and  alertness,  finds  ac- 
tion easy,  has  all  its  faculties  at  command, 
and  exerts  them  with  intensity  of  applica- 
tion. Under  the  vivifying  effusions  of  joy, 
imagination  awakes,  perception  becomes 
acute,  the  range  of  observation  is  enlarged, 


SPIRITUAL  JOY.  63 

judgement  is  invigora.ted,  memory  is  sharp- 
ened, taste  refined,  the  whole  soul,  in  short, 
is  instinct  with  the  spirit  of  intellectual  life, 
and  waits  only  for  the  orders  of  the  will, 
to  put  forth  its  utmost  energies,  and  to  ac- 
complish the  highest  results  of  which  it  is 
capable.  And  the  will  itself  is  in  a  great 
degree,  influenced,  if  not  determined  by 
joy.  It  is  when  men  have  delight  in  the 
things  about  which  their  volitions  and  pur- 
poses are  conversant,  that  they  form  bold 
and  firm  resolutions ;  then  it  is  that  they 
decide  freely  and  promptly  to  enter  upon 
courses  of  mental  exertion,  of  which  per- 
haps the  thought  would  not  have  occurred 
to  them  in  the  absence  of  joy.  We  ofter 
no  proof  of  what  we  now  affirm,  but  make 
our  appeal  directly  to  human  conscious- 
ness. No  one  who  reflects  on  the  history 
of  his  own  mental  states  and  operations 
can  call  it  in  question.  To  every  one  the 
matter  is  as  certain  as  consciousness  itself. 
Nor  is  it  inexplicable.  Happiness  is  the 
5* 


54  RELIGION  OF  THE   BIBLE. 

ultimate  end  of  rational  being.  All  senti- 
ent being  indeed,  of  whatever  nature,  lan- 
guishes and  pines  when  kept  back  from 
the  final  end  of  its  existence ;  it  is,  on 
the  other  hand,  in  its  state  of  greatest 
perfection,  when  it  perfectly  enjoys  that 
end.  It  is  so  with  the  mind  of  man ;  joy 
is  its  ultimate  end ;  in  possession  of  that 
end,  all  its  faculties  are  in  th«ir  best  con- 
dition. We  only  add,  if  other  kinds  of 
joy  have  an  invigorating  influence  on  the 
mind,  much  more  must  that  incomparably 
higher  joy  of  which  we  speak. 

Again,  as  this  feeling  imparts  such  life 
to  the  mind  itself,  so  does  it  brighten  by 
this  means,  the  objects  of  intellection.  Its 
influence  in  this  respect  is  sometimes  as  if 
a  new  sun  had  been  created  to  irradi- 
ate the  world  in  which  mind  moves.  You 
yesterday  read  Milton  with  a  wearied 
heart,  and  fell  asleep  over  the  sublime 
glories  of  his  page  ;  this  morning  you  pe- 
rused the  same  page  with  a  spirit  refreshed 


SPIRITUAL  JOY.  65 

by  sweet   and   sufficient   sleep,   and   you 
were  amazed  and  overpowered,  by  its  won- 
drous creations  of  fancy  and  taste.     The 
world  of  faith,  the  world  revealed  in  the 
gospel,  a  short  time  since,  when  you  en- 
deavoured to  think  upon  it,  with  a  soul 
almost   dead  to   spiritual  excellence,  was 
nearly  as  the  region  of  emptiness  and  dark- 
ness ;    now,  when  the  spirit  of  a   revival 
sheds  its  life   through  your   bosom,  that 
world  of  invisible  glory  eclipses  the  world 
of  sense,  and  absorbs  the  powers  and  sen- 
sibilities  of  your  being.     What   was   the 
Holy  One  to  you,  some  weeks  ago,  when 
you  pretended  to  worship  Him,  with  a  dull 
and  worldly  heart ;  what  is  He  now,  when 
a  joyful  sense  of  His  excellency  draws  from 
your  breast  the  ardent  exhortation  to  those 
who  know  nothing  of  your  blessedness,  to 
taste  and  see  that  the  Lord  is  good  ?  What 
a  difference  in  the  character  of  the  Saviour 
at  present,  from  what  He  seemed  to  you 
then  ?   The  whole  Bible,  the  whole  subject 


56  RELIGION  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

of  religion,  how  immensely  different.  Yet 
the  whole  of  this  difference  is  the  result  of 
spiritual  delight  in  your  own  mind.  The 
joy  of  the  Lord  then,  is  it  not  your  strength  ? 
If  you  had  an  angel's  powers,  what  could 
you  do  with  no  distinct  views  of  the  objects 
with  which  those  powers  are  conversant  ? 
Attend,  next,  for  a  moment,  to  the  influ- 
ence of  spiritual  pleasure  on  the  perform- 
ance of  devotional  exercises.  Who  is  it 
that  has  grown  weary  of  his  closet,  his 
Bible,  his  domestic  altar,  the  meeting  for 
prayer,  and  the  solemn  services  of  the  Sab- 
bath ?  Could  you  inspect  the  heart  of  such 
a  person,  is  it  probable  that  you  would  find 
it  the  abode  of  much  religious  enjoyment  ? 
Do  you  think  it  would  be  possible  to  dis- 
cover any  thing  in  such  a  man's  heart,  to 
justify  his  saying  with  the  spiritually  minded 
Psalmist,  one  day  in  the  courts  of  the  Lord 
is  better  than  a  thousand  ?  No  one,  I  am 
sure,  could  believe  it  possible.  A  deserter 
from  the  throne  of  grace,  a  neglecter  of 


SPIRITUAL    JOY.  67 

devotional  duties,  is  one  who  takes  little 
or  no  delight  in  the  performance  of  those 
duties.  To  him  who  has  heavenly  joy- 
springing  up  in  his  mind,  the  sanctuary, 
the  place  of  social  prayer,  the  closet,  the 
solitary  walk,  will  be  the  gate  of  heaven. 
Such  a  man  will  be  inclined  to  pray,  not 
merely  thrice,  nor  even  seven  times  a  day, 
but  to  be  praying  always,  with  all  prayer 
and  supplication  in  the  Spirit ;  to  dwell  in 
the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High,  to  abide 
in  the  tabernacle  of  the  Almighty  continu- 
ally. The  spirit  of  devotion  never  tires, 
while  the  joy  of  the  Lord  is  its  prompter. 
Day  and  night,  it  can  continue  its  aspira- 
tions and  outpourings  of  affection.  It  has 
no  content  in  shortness,  in  interruption,  in 
lifeless  exercises.  No ;  the  joy  of  the  Lord 
lifts  the  heart  up  to  heaven,  and  keeps  it 
there,  communing  with  holy  angels,  with 
the  church  of  the  first-born,  with  the  spi- 
rits of  just  men  made  perfect,  with  God  the 
Judge  of  all,  with  Jesus  the  Mediator,  and 
with  his  most  precious  blood  of  sprinkling. 


58  RELIGION   OP  THE   BIBLE. 

We  will  now  advert,  in  few  words,  to  the 
influence  of  this  grace  on  other  gracious 
states  of  mind.  We  refer  not  to  the  indi- 
rect influence  which  it  exerts  upon  them,  by 
promoting  the  mind's  spiritual  intercourse 
with  their  objects  ;  by  inclining  it  to  heav- 
enly meditation  and  prayer ;  but  to  a  direct 
and  necessary  connexion  between  this  and 
other  holy  feelings.  All  the  gracious  af- 
fections, being  of  the  same  family  and  inti- 
mately alhed  to  each  other,  exert  a  recip- 
rocal influence  on  one  another,  promotive 
of  each  other's  strength  and  growth;  but 
there  appears  to  be  a  pre-eminence  in  the 
friendly  power  of  joy  upon  its  sister  graces. 
The  reason  seems  to  be,  that  joy,  being 
the  end  of  aU  the  heavenly  affections,  when 
this  feeling  connects  itself  with  them,  they 
must  of  course  be  more  vigorous  than  in 
any  other  circumstances.  Let  us  illustrate 
in  a  few  instances.  Love  often  exists  apart 
from  joy,  but  it  seldom Jlourishes  apart  from 
it.     It  is  when  the  heart  finds  delight  in 


SPIRITUAL  JOY.  59 

loving,  that  it  loves  with  great  intensity 
and  enlargement.  Then  it  is  that  it  gives 
itself  away  to  the  beloved  object,  and  as  it 
were  loses  itself  in  it.  Hope  too  is  fed  by 
joy )  joy,  in  this  world,  being  the  earnest 
and  foretaste  of  the  object  of  hope.  The 
full  assurance  of  hope  is  always  the  effect 
of  joy  reigning  in  the  soul ;  it  can  come 
from  nothing  else ;  no  external  evidence 
can  produce  it ;  it  cannot  be  gained  from 
inference,  or  any  witness  without ;  no,  it 
is  the  beginning  of  heaven,  the  peace  of 
God  which  passeth  all  understanding;  this 
it  is,  that  displaces  every  doubt  in  the  soul, 
and  fills  the  mind  with  certainty  respecting 
its  eternal  blessedness; — joy  does  it,  and 
nothing  else  can.  Faith  likewise  rises  and 
approximates  to  vision,  when  joy  gives  it 
wings  ;  for  when  the  things  believed  are 
at  the  same  time  rejoiced  in,  how  can  it  be 
otherwise  than  that  faith  in  the  reality  of 
those  things  should  amount  to  the  utmost 
confidence  and  boldness  ?    How  also  does 


60  RELIGION  OP  THE  BIBLE. 

the  relenting  of  the  heart  in  view  of  sin 
and  the  mercy  of  God  abound,  when  the 
soul  turns  her  eye  to  these  objects,  after 
being  melted  into  tenderness,  and  sweet- 
ness, by  a  rejoicing  sense  of  the  beauty  of 
holiness  ?  We  could  add  to  these  instan- 
ces, if  it  were  necessary ;  but  they  are 
sufficient.  It  is  exceedingly  manifest,  that 
it  must  give  zest  and  strength  to  every 
good  feeling  of  which  the  mind  is  capable, 
to  have  that  feeling  attended  with  conscious 
delight,  and  such  delight  too  as  the  joy  of 
the  Lord,  the  very  joy  of  the  supreme  and 
blessed  God. 

Let  us  next  notice  how  nobly  this  feel- 
ing of  spiritual  delight  can  bear  up  the 
mind  amidst  assaults  of  outward  affliction. 
Through  these  assaults  must  all  make  their 
triumphant  way,  who  at  last  gain  entrance 
into  the  world  of  rest.  As  many  as  I  love,  I 
rebuke  and  chasten.  I  have  chosen  thee  in 
the  furnace  of  ajffliction.  Here  it  is  that 
Strength  is  demanded,  and  what  in  these 


SPIRITUAL   Joy.  61 

circumstances  imparts  strength  like  this 
holy  joy?  Hope  and  faith  are  indeed  need- 
ful, but  it  is  joy  commonly  which  gives 
faith  and  hope  their  strength.  Unattended 
by  joy,  they  may  stay  up  the  mind  in  some 
sort,  amidst  these  seasons  of  storm  and 
darkness  ;  they  may  keep  it  from  sinking 
into  the  deep  waters  of  despair,  but  they 
may  not  do  even  this  without  a  great  in- 
ward strife.  Many  a  saint  going  through 
the  floods  of  trouble  in  the  mere  exercise 
of  hope  and  faith,  has  meanwhile  trembled 
in  himself,  lest  by  failing  to  retain  these 
supporters,  he  should  perish  in  the  passage. 
But  how  is  the  scene  changed  at  once, 
when  the  light  of  heavenly  joy  springs  up 
in  darkness  ?  What  can  any  floods  or  fires 
of  tribulation  then  do,  to  hinder  the  mind's 
steadfastness,  and  swift  progress  in  its  up- 
ward course  to  God  ?  These  trials  seem 
to  assist  rather  than  hinder  it  on  its  way. 
How  matchless  the  efficacy  of  this  divine 
joy !  It  enlivens  faith  and  hope,  and  ah  the 
6 


62  RELIGION  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

Other  heavenly  affections.  It  is  as  if  om- 
nipotence itself  had  entered  into  all  the 
feelings  of  the  mind.  The  mind  becomes 
more  than  a  conqueror.  The  very  violence 
of  fire  is  quenched  ;  and  sometimes,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  martyr,  the  fiercest  flames, 
under  the  influences  of  spiritual  joy,  not 
only  lose  their  peculiar  power,  but  become 
an  instrument  of  ease,  as  the  dying  martyr 
found  the  flames  were  to  him  a  bed  of  roses. 
This  may  savour  of  mere  ardour  to  the 
externally  strict  religionist,  but  he  is  not 
set  to  judge  in  this  case  :  we  appeal  in 
verification  of  what  we  have  said  to  the 
Scriptures  of  truth,  and  the  history  of  the 
church.  It  has  been  fulfilled  in  thousands 
of  real  examples  of  whom  the  world  was 
not  worthy. 

The  power  of  this  feeling,  as  evinced  in 
its  resistance  to  the  injluence  of  worldly  good, 
is  a  further  commendation  of  it.  It  is  this 
influence,  far  more  than  that  of  outward  af- 
fliction, which  tries  and  ensnares  the  spirit 


SPIRITUAL  JOY. 


of  man.  Indeed,  what  is  it  that  constitutes 
the  bitterness  of  affliction,  but  its  abridging 
or  destroying  our  enjoyment  of  the  world  ? 
Were  we  wholly  dead  to  worldly  good, 
small  would  be  the  power  of  affliction  to 
disturb  us.  It  is  this  then,  the  world's 
influence,  that  forms  our  grand  encum- 
brance. Here  is  the  great  adversary  of 
our  souls.  Here  is  what  gives  all  other 
temptations  their  strength.  It  is  this  which 
gives  the  great  destroyer  himself  all  the 
advantage  he  has  against  us  ;  which  ena- 
bles him  to  reach  our  spirits,  with  his  wiles 
and  darts  of  perdition ;  and  which  makes 
us  his  willing  captives  and  vassals.  What 
then  can  most  effectually  secure  us  against 
the  enchantment  and  tyranny  of  this  pre- 
sent evil  world  ?  Whatever  that  is,  it  is 
more  to  be  desired  than  all  things  in  the 
universe  besides  ;  he  who  has  it,  would  be 
a  madman  to  part  with  it  for  the  treasures 
of  creation. 

What  then  is  this  priceless  treasure  ?   It 


64  RELIGION  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

is  unquestionably  a  happiness  higher  than 
that  which  the  world  has  to  offer.  The 
human  mind,  by  the  nature  God  has  given 
it,  evermore  seeks  enjoyment.  Since  its 
sad  perversion,  by  the  original  apostacy,  it 
looks  for  enjoyment  to  the  visible  and  out- 
ward world.  That  world  besets  it,  with 
its  ensnaring  temptations,  at  the  commence- 
ment of  its  existence,  and  works  in  it  the 
fatal  delusion  that  in  worldly  good  lies  the 
supreme  blessedness.  This  gross  delusion, 
the  grand  difficulty  to  be  overcome  in  re- 
covering the  mind  to  the  dominion  of  vir- 
tue and  truth,  can  no  otherwise  be  disarm- 
ed of  its  controlling  influence  than  by  the 
presence  and  experience  in  the  mind  of  a 
better  happiness  than  the  world  can  give. 
We  appeal  for  confirmation  of  this  remark 
to  human  consciousness  in  all  the  genera- 
tions of  mankind.  Many  means  have  been 
employed  to  break  the  world's  power  in 
the  heart;  the  world's  deceitfulness  has 
been  set  in  the  strongest  light ;  the  terrors 


SPIRITUAL  JOY.  65 

of  eternity  have  been  set  in  array  against 
the  idolatry  of  the  world  ;  the  utmost  pow- 
er of  motive  and  persuasion  has  been  ex- 
hausted ;  and  to  what  result  ?  The  under- 
standing has  been  convinced,  resolutions 
have  been  formed,  vows  have  been  made, 
seclusion  from  the  society  of  men  has  been 
tried,  but  the  world's  pleasures  have  been 
secretly  loved,  and  if  they  have  not  been 
returned  to,  with  increased  eagerness,  the 
effects  of  forced  mortification  and  absti- 
nence have  been  worse,  if  possible,  than 
those  of  indulgence  itself.  For  levity  and 
smiling  deceit,  and  contemptuous  indiffer- 
ence to  divine  things,  there  has  been  an 
exchange  of  disdainful  self-righteousness 
and  grave  formality  and  bitter  misanthropy. 
No,  never  has  the  influence  of  the  world 
been  truly  excluded,  or  even  interrupted, 
except  where  the  mind  has  been  conscious 
of  having  within  itself  a  joy  superior  to  any 
which  can  be  obtained  from  created  and 
temporal  things.  And  what  is  such  a  joy, 
6* 


66  RELIGION   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

but  that  whereof  we  speak  ?  Besides  this, 
and  creature-joy,  there  is  no  other.  Here 
then  is  the  one  thing  needful  for  the  effec- 
tual resistance  and  banishment  of  the  spirit 
of  the  world,  the  strength  of  all  temptation, 
and  of  the  tempter  himself. 

This  is  the  world's  vanquisher,  and  how 
easy,  how  perfect  is  its  triumph.  The 
heart  takes  a  farewell  of  the  world,  a  glad 
and  rejoicing  farewell,  a  farewell  final  and 
everlasting.  Why  should  it  not  ?  Does 
he  who  eats  at  the  table  of  a  king  care  for 
the  beggar's  crumbs  ?  The  man  who  walks 
at  large  enjoying  the  sweet  influences  of 
God's  work's,  and  exulting  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  being  an  illustrious  family's 
boast,  or  a  nation's  benefactor,  does  he 
envy  the  fancied  greatness  of  the  naked 
maniac  chained  to  the  floor  of  his  cell? 
No  more  can  he  who  tastes  the  joys  of 
the  Lord,  long,  while  he  does  so,  for  the 
low  pleasures  of  the  world.  How  can  he 
be  tempted  by  appeals  to  ambition,  whose 


SPIRITUAL  JOV.  67 

ambition  is  already  fixed  upon  higher  hon- 
our than  that  of  any  throne  in  creation ; 
or  by  appeals  to  the  love  of  possession,  who 
is  by  enjoyment  at  this  moment,  the  heir 
and  possessor  of  all  things  ;  or  by  appeals 
to  the  love  of  pleasure,  whose  spirit  is 
drinking  of  the  pure  river  of  the  water  of 
life  ?  The  joy  of  a  renewed  soul,  when  it 
first  sees  and  adores  the  beauty  of  the  divine 
character,  what  a  poor  recompense  would 
the  wealth  and  the  glory  of  a  thousand 
creations  be  to  that  soul  for  the  loss  of  what 
it  then  feels.  Oh !  there  is  nothing  so  much 
needed,  in  order  to  invest  Christians  with 
the  mild  glory  of  a  heavenly  conversation, 
as  this  frame  of  soul.  Were  this  sacred 
feeling  habitually  dominant  in  their  breasts, 
how  would  it  adorn  them  in  the  eye  of  God 
and  man,  in  all  the  beauties  of  practical 
spirituality  ?  Holiness  to  the  Lord,  would 
be  inscribed  on  all  their  secular  actions 
and  pursuits  ;  they  would  be  in  respect  to 
care  for  the  body  as  the  fowls  of  heaven  for 


68  RELIGION  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

their  food,  or  the  liHes  of  the  field  for  their 
clothing ;  in  room  of  a  fretted  and  peevish 
spirit  under  the  bitter  disturbances  of  life, 
they  would  have  enduring  meekness  and 
quietness ;  instead  of  aiming  by  covert 
measures  at  self-promotion  in  the  church, 
there  would  be  brotherly  love,  in  honour 
preferring  one  another  ;  and  instead  of  that 
spirit  of  mutual  contention  and  concision 
which  has  ever  been  the  reproach  of  the 
Christian  name,  there  would  be  the  keep- 
ing of  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bonds 
of  peace.  Oh,  this  is  the  greatest  deside- 
ratum for  the  times  in  which  we  live  !  Have 
what  we  may,  be  the  signs  of  the  times 
more  animating  than  they  ever  have  been, 
let  revivals  be  more  and  more  multiplied, 
there  will  not,  there  cannot  be,  the  needful 
improvement  in  Christian  character  and 
temper,  until  God  in  his  mercy  shall  send 
abroad  the  spirit  of  holy  joy  in  the  hearts 
of  his  unfaithful,  unworthy  people. 

Again,  notwithstanding  the  advancement 


SPIRITUAL    JOT.  69 

of  this  age  on  former  times,  in  respect  to 
liberality  and  labours  of  love,  there  will  never 
be  what  we  judge  needful  in  these  grand 
respects  to  the  conversion  of  the  world, 
until  the  time  comes  for  the  more  general 
effusion  of  this  spirit  upon  the  church.  The 
joy  of  the  Lord  is  our  strength,  for  making 
what  we  deem  to  be  the  requisite  sacrifices 
and  exertions  for  the  universal  spread  of 
the  gospel.  We  have  more  than  enough 
of  treasure  in  our  hands,  but  we  have  no 
heart  to  use  it  for  the  purpose  in  question. 
We  admit  that  we  ought  so  to  use  it ;  we 
confess  this  to  one  another ;  we  confess  it 
in  prayer  to  God ;  we  lament  over  our  par- 
simony ;  but  we  still  lavish  om*  possessions 
on  our  lusts,  or  hoard  them  for  the  ruin  of 
our  children ;  and  reluctantly  give,  it  may 
be,  the  fraction  of  a  tithe,  to  aid  in  pouring 
the  glorious  light  of  Christian  hope  over 
the  wide  world  of  heathenism.  Appeals 
on  appeals,  the  year  round,  are  rung  in  our 
ears  from  every  quarter  of  the  earth.    We 


70  RELIGION   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

are  plied  almost  daily  with  a  system  of 
strenuous  solicitation  ;  the  universe  of  mo- 
tive is  searched  for  materials  of  persua- 
sion ;  but  still,  the  mass  of  Christians, 
having  ears  to  hear,  hear  not,  and  having 
hearts  to  perceive,  yet,  in  this  matter  of 
giving  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  they 
do  not  understand.  That  it  is  a  privilege 
and  a  mercy  to  be  allowed  to  contribute 
any  thing  for  the  furtherance  of  this  object, 
is  to  them  a  mystery  indeed :  they  cannot 
even  comprehend  the  extent  of  duty  here : 
they  are  wearied  beyond  their  patience  by 
incessant  calls  for  aid ;  and  after  all  is  done, 
the  burden  of  the  expense  of  carrying  on 
the  great  enterprise,  to  which  Christians 
have  by  profession  and  covenant  devoted 
all  they  have,  is  borne  chiefly  by  a  few. 

Can  we  be  ignorant  of  the  cause  of  this 
insensibihty  to  sacred  obligation  in  the 
christian  church  ?  Do  we  not  see  what  it 
is  that  makes  members  of  the  church  so 
merciless  towards  the  souls  of  their  perish- 


SPIRITUAL    JOY.  71 

ing  fellow-men?  Is  it  not  palpable  that 
the  joy  of  God's  salvation  is  wanting  in 
their  own  hearts  ;  that  they  take  little  or 
no  lively  pleasure  in  the  things  of  the  Spirit? 
If  their  own  hearts  were  but  moderately 
expanded,  with  this  pure  feeling,  they  would 
not  be  able  to  shut  up  their  compassions 
from  the  wretched  children  of  darkness, 
who,  by  myriads  a  day,  are  dying  without 
hope.  It  must  verily  be  so  ;  the  Christians 
of  this  age  have  generally  but  little  happi- 
ness, little  sensible  delight  in  God.  They 
are  not,  as  to  any  feeling  of  blessedness, 
happy  Christians.  They  have  httle  com- 
munion in  spirit  and  feeling,  from  day  to 
day,  with  the  Head  and  members  of  the 
heavenly  church.  The  first  touches  of  this 
joy  would  break  asunder  every  cord  of 
avarice,  and  open  wide  the  heart  and  the 
hand  for  beneficent  action.  There  seems 
to  be  a  tendency  in  all  delight  to  incline  us 
to  liberality.  Hence,  those  who  solicit  our 
favom',  prefer  making  their  approaches  to 


72  RELIGION  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

US,  when  our  mood  of  mind  is  happy.  But 
this  joy  is  the  very  hfe  and  strength  of  be- 
nevolence ;  it  is  the  parent  of  all  good ; 
the  source  of  every  stream  and  drop  of 
blessedness  in  creation.  Let  it  enter  the 
heart,  and  covetousness  is  gone  out  of  it, 
by  the  same  necessity  by  which  darkness 
flees  before  the  beams  of  the  sun.  See 
how  its  contrariety  to  covetousness  showed 
itself  in  the  first  converts  to  the  cross  of 
Christ :  What  solicitation  did  they  need  to 
induce  them  to  give  for  the  extension  of 
the  gospel  ?  They  gave  all  they  had,  and 
who  can  suppose  that  they  could  have  had 
as  much  pleasure  in  appropriating  it  to 
themselves,  as  they  enjoyed  in  parting  with 
it,  for  the  good  of  the  common  cause  ?  In- 
stances of  the  like  kind,  in  individuals  at 
least,  are  not  wanting  in  modern  times. 
Such  instances  our  recent  revivals  have 
supplied.  The  joy  of  the  Lord  is  the 
strength  of  revivals  ;  and  who  knows  not 
that  revivals  are  the  church's  only  hope, 


SPIRITUAL    JOY.  75 

both  for  the  means  and  the  men  by  which 
the  world  is  to  be  converted  ? 

Assuredly,  we  want  nothing  else  to  re- 
plenish the  treasury  of  the  Lord,  and  sup- 
ply all  requisite  resources,  but  that  the 
hearts  of  Christians  should  cease  to  be  so 
void  of  that  sensible  enjoyment  of  God, 
with  which  they  should  be  always  full. 
Had  the  church  but  that  fountain  within 
herself  to  draw  from,  rivers  of  treasure, 
if  needed,  would  be  at  her  command; 
and  she  could  supply  at  once,  the  very 
ends  of  the  earth,  with  the  means  of 
salvation.  She  would  have  a  missionary 
in  spirit  in  each  of  her  sons  and  daughters. 
It  is  this  blessedness  I  speak  of,  which 
looses  the  tongues  of  Christians,  and  makes 
them  eloquent  in  teaching  every  man  his 
neighbour,  and  every  man  his  brother,  that 
knowledge  of  God  and  Christ  which  is 
unto  life  eternal.  Restore  to  me  the  joy 
of  thy  salvation,  said  the  mourning  Psalmist, 
then  will  I  teach  transgressors  thy  ways. 
7 


74  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

It  would  wing  their  feet  for  swift  journies 
through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  earth, 
and  the  glad  tidings  of  saving  love  would 
spread  from  land  to  land,  and  be  heard  in 
every  island,  every  hamlet,  every  dwelling 
on  the  globe  before  the  present  generation 
has  passed  away. 

And  finally,  we  are  not  sure,  that  if  the 
joy  of  the  Lord  pervaded  the  christian 
church,  to  the  degree  to  which  it  might, 
and  by  all  means  should  extend,  the  work 
of  saving  the  world  would  not  go  on  of 
itself,  almost  without  labour.  Certain  it 
is,  that  in  that  condition  of  things  labour 
would  itself  be  joy ;  but  may  we  not  be- 
lieve, (now  that  Christianity  is  no  stranger 
in  the  earth,  but  has  for  eighteen  hundred 
years,  been  giving  infallible  proof  of  her 
celestial  descent,  and  her  continued  con- 
nexion with  the  place  of  her  origin,)  that 
the  necessity  for  patient  and  agonizing 
effort,  if  the  church  were  in  the  state  sup- 
posed, would  be  superseded? 


SPIRITUAL  JOY.  75 

Heaven  then  would  in  a  sense  come  down 
to  earth  ;  the  tabernacle  of  God  would  be 
with  men ;  and  mankind  would  know  and 
see  the  place  of  happiness  ;  and  would  they 
not  also  by  the  grace  of  God,  through  the 
operation  of  that  new  spectacle,  be  drawn 
thitherwards  as  of  themselves?  The  na- 
ture of  man  still  inclines  him  after  happi- 
ness. The  disappointment  of  six  thousand 
years  has  not  abated  the  strength  of  this 
indestructible  propensity.  Who  can  tell, 
but  that  such  a  sight  as  the  general  church 
of  Christ,  filled  with  the  joy  of  the  Lord, 
would,  under  the  divine  blessing,  determine 
that  propensity  to  its  proper  end  ?  That 
it  is  of  all  things  the  best  adapted  to  have 
this  effect,  is  certainly  a  good  reason  for 
supposing  that  the  Spirit  of  grace,  who  is 
also  the  Spirit  of  fitness  and  order,  would 
prefer  it  before  any  other  instrumentality. 
For  our  own  part,  we  cannot  but  think  it 
would  do  more  in  a  few  years,  independ- 
ently of  labour,  than  the  labour  of  many 


76  RELIGION  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

ages  without  it.  It  would  make  the  church 
a  wonder  in  the  earth.  The  mountain  of 
the  Lord's  house  would  stand  upon  the  top 
of  the  mountains ;  it  would  be  illuminated 
with  divine  glory ;  its  lustre  would  outshine 
that  of  the  sun;  it  would  enlighten  the 
world;  the  remotest  nations  would  see  it, 
and  would  not  all  nations  flow  unto  it  ? 

The  world  hitherto  has  not  regarded  the 
church  as  the  seat  of  blessedness.  It  has 
had  too  little  reason  thus  to  regard  it.  Re- 
ligion, by  old  report,  is  happiness ;  but  it 
is  religion  as  contained  in  books,  not  as 
dwelling  in  the  hearts  or  as  shining  out  in 
the  examples  of  its  professors.  With  com- 
paratively few  exceptions,  since  the  primi- 
tive times,  the  lives  of  Christians  have  mis- 
represented the  spirit  of  their  religion. 
The  world  have  judged  it  a  sour,  unhappy, 
gloomy  spirit ;  and  they  have  not  wanted 
occasion  to  do  so.  They  who  have  called 
themselves  Christians  have  seemed  little 
happier  than  others.     The  great  majority 


SPIRITUAL  JOY.  T7 

of  them  have  practically  declared  their 
religion  a  gloomy  thing,  by  going  to  the 
world  itself  for  pleasure.  Of  the  rest,  the 
generahty  seem  to  pass  through  life,  either 
with  just  enough  of  interest  in  religion  to 
keep  their  membership  in  the  church  ;  or 
in  a  cold  perfunctory  preciseness  ;  or  in 
austerities  which  make  religion  identical 
with  penance  ;  or  in  a  forced  driving  zeal, 
which  bespeaks  more  of  fierceness  than 
calm  heavenly  peace  and  joy,  A  few  of 
noble  exceptions  indeed  there  have  been, 
but  to  the  world's  eye  these  exceptive  cases 
have  commonly  been  lost,  in  the  multitude 
of  their  gloomy  or  earthly  minded  brethren. 
Has  not  the  church  been  the  dwelling- 
place,  rather  of  doubt  and  fear,  than  of 
sensible  delight  in  God  ?  Is  it  not  the  way 
of  even  the  best  of  her  members  to  be 
habitually  questioning  in  themselves  wheth- 
er they  be  not  reprobates,  instead  of  exult- 
ing in  the  full  assurance  of  hope  ?  Besides, 
has  not  the  church  been  almost  continually 
7* 


78  RELIGION  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

a  scene  of  contention,  and  confusion,  and 
bitter  TVTath,  a  dread  and  terror,  rather  than 
a  charm  to  the  world  ?  Oh,  let  it  not  be 
said  that  the  experiment  of  what  may  be 
done  to  save  the  world  by  the  influence  of 
a  general  example  of  spiritual  peace  and 
joy  has  yet  been  tried.  Enough  has  been 
ascertained  to  encourage  the  highest  ex- 
pectation ;  the  successes  of  the  first  Chris- 
tians, the  fruits  of  the  individual  examples 
of  such  blessed  men  as  Baxter,  Flavel,  and 
Edwards,  beget  the  greatest  confidence  as 
to  what  would  be  the  result  of  experiment ; 
but  the  experiment  remains  to  be  made. 
Come  the  day  when  it  shall  be  in  full  ope- 
ration. Hope  is  fixed  on  the  appearance 
of  that  period,  and  that  it  will  appear,  can 
there  be  a  doubt  ?  Have  not  t  he  prophets 
declared  it  ?  The  Lord  in  his  compassion 
cut  short  its  delay  ;  make  Jerusalem  a  re- 
joicing, and  so  a  praise  in  the  earth ;  give 
to  all  Christians,  in  answer  to  the  prayer 
of  Christ,  that  unity  of  soul,  in  which  the 


SPIRITUAL  JOY.  79 

Father  and  the  Son  are  united  to  each  oth- 
er, the  unity  of  divine  love  and  joy.  Then 
shall  our  unhappy  world  learn  the  error  of 
its  way,  forsake  the  broken  cisterns  of  sin, 
and  come  to  the  Fountaui  of  living  waters. 

These  considerations  make  it  manifest 
that  none  of  those  who  call  themselves 
Christians,  ought  to  live  so  much  as  one 
day,  or  one  hour,  except  when  taking  their 
rest  in  sleep,  w  ithout  the  feeling  of  spiritual 
delight,  potentially  at  least,  in  their  hearts. 
It  should  suffice  no  member  of  the  christian 
church,  to  maintain  a  conversation  exter- 
nally irreproachable,  to  live  in  honesty  and 
in  credit  with  mankind,  and  to  observe  the 
stated  times  and  services  of  rehgion ;  no, 
not  eTen,  if  in  addition  to  this,  he  sets  an 
example  of  liberality.  This  is  but  a  low 
standard  of  religion,  and  no  man  who  has 
any  just  concern  for  the  cause  of  God  in 
this  world,  or  for  his  own  salvation,  can 
content  himself  with  it.     A  man  may  live 


80  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

in  this  manner,  and  live  in  darkness,  in 
coldness,  in  fear,  respecting  his  own  soul; 
and  his  fear  may  be  realized.  Every  Chris- 
tian on  earth  ought  to  be  a  specimen  of 
the  happiness  Christianity  is  adapted  to 
impart ;  a  reflector  by  example  of  the  light 
of  heavenly  joy.  He  ought  to  be  not  only 
a  conscientious,  a  devout,  a  liberal  Chris- 
tian, but  a  happy  Christian  also;  happy  in 
God  and  the  spirit  of  heaven,  all  the  day 
long.  He  owes  it  to  the  cause  of  his 
Saviour,  to  himself,  his  family,  his  breth- 
ren in  the  faith,  the  world  of  mankind,  to 
live  a  serene,  cheerful,  and  heavenly  life. 
This  is  plainly  a  just  inference  from  the 
preceding  remarks  ;  and  it  is  an  inference 
which  divine  authority  confirms.  To  re- 
joice in  the  Lord,  is  a  command  urged 
with  great  earnestness  upon  all  Christians. 
Scripture  is  exceedingly  strenuous  in  its 
mode  of  enforcing  this  command  :  Rejoice 
in  the  Lord  always,  and  again  I  say  rejoice. 
What   has  been  said  may  show  us   that 


SPIRITUAL    JOY.  81 

there  is  a  sufficient  reason  for  this  require- 
ment; and  is  it  not  strange  indeed,  that 
Christians,  whose  characteristic  spirit  is 
submissiveness  to  the  divine  will,  should 
scarcely  seem  to  blame  themselves  for  an 
habitual  disregard  to  it  ?  What  more  could 
God  have  done,  than  he  has  done,  to  give 
his  people  grounds  and  occasions  of  joy? 
Has  he  kept  his  glory  out  of  their  view  ? 
Has  he  not  shown  himself  good  enough  ? 
Could  he  have  loved  them  more  than  he 
has  done  ?  Could  he  have  made  greater 
sacrifices  for  their  sakes  ?  Could  he  have 
gone  to  greater  lengths  to  win  their  com- 
placency, than  to  give  up  his  own  dear 
Son,  for  the  ransom  of  their  souls  ?  Could 
he  have  added  a  greater  blessing  after  that, 
than  to  send  down  his  Spirit  to  dwell  with 
them  forever  ?  Could  he  have  been  more 
explicit  and  more  full  in  his  assurances  of 
kind  feeling  and  tender  love  ?  Could  he 
have  given  them  better  promises,  or  spread 
before  them  brighter  prospects,  or  called 


82  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

them  to  greater  privileges,  or  to  a  more 
honourable  service  ?  Has  not  God  seemed 
in  all  his  dispensations  and  doings  towards 
his  people,  to  have  had  distinctly  in  his 
purpose,  that  they  should  want  nothing 
which  infinite  love  could  supply,  to  call 
forth  their  joy  and  gladness  of  soul  ?  "When 
by  his  Apostle,  he  lifts  up  the  voice  of  au- 
thority, commanding  them  to  rejoice  in 
the  Lord  always,  —  can  they  be  justified 
in  replying  to  him,  we  have  no  causes  for 
joy ;  the  state  of  mind  required  demands 
an  object  suited  to  produce  it,  and  no  such 
object  has  been  presented  to  us  ? 

There  are,  it  may  be  thought,  subjective 
difficulties  in  the  way.  But  can  it  be  that 
there  are  insurmountable  difficulties  of  this 
kind,  when  obligation  to  rejoice  is  in  full 
force  upon  the  mind  ?  Who  can  believe 
this  ?  Surely  nothing  but  mental  insanity, 
or  such  a  condition  of  the  body  as  sets 
aside  self-control,  in  either  of  which  cases, 
obligation  ceases,  can  be  a  just  apology  for 


SPIRITUAL    JOY.  83 

not  exercising  holy  joy.  So  abundant  are 
the  promises  of  divine  grace,  that  if  we  are 
not  straitened  in  ourselves,  we  may  be 
able  to  keep  up  a  calm  and  cheerful  and 
heavenly  frame  of  spirit  in  any  circumstan- 
ces of  worldly  discomposure  which  do  not 
produce  a  real  derangement  of  intellect. 
The  triumph  of  some  Christians  over  such 
circumstances  has  been  complete  ;  nervous 
debility,  severe  sickness  and  pain,  and  the 
very  agonies  of  dissolution  have  not  been 
able  to  keep  them  from  rejoicing  in  the 
Lord.  If  any  feel  incredulous  in  respect 
to  this  matter,  let  us  ask  them  to  consider 
whether  if  they  walked  as  closely  with  God 
as  did  Baxter,  or  Paul,  or  Enoch,  they  would 
be  likely  to  retain  their  present  doubts. 
Alas,  we  destroy  the  health  of  the  body  by 
our  reckless  way  of  treating  it,  and  then 
make  bodily  indisposition  an  excuse  for 
keeping  the  soul  in  darkness  and  leanness 
and  spiritual  distempers. 

The  plain  truth  is  this,  that  what  hinders 


84  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

our  joy  is  allowed  sin.  The  power  of  sin 
to  do  this  is  great.  This  little  hand,  said 
Whitefield,  placing  his  hand  near  his  eyes, 
as  he  was  preaching  in  the  field,  while  the 
glorious  sun  was  flooding  creation  with  his 
beams,  —  this  little  hand  hides  all  the  lustre 
of  the  sun  from  my  eyes ;  and  so  a  little 
sin  may  involve  the  soul  in  darkness,  though 
the  spiritual  world  be  all  bright  as  heaven 
itself.  But  should  we  therefore  be  con- 
tent to  live  in  darkness,  or  set  ourselves 
with  more  resolution  against  all  forms,  and 
degrees  of  sin  ?  The  latter  is  the  course 
of  duty,  and  is  it  not  also  the  course  of 
wisdom  ?  Is  it  idle  to  ask  the  question, 
What  manner  of  persons  ought  we  to  be 
in  all  holy  conversation  and  godliness  ? 
Why  is  it,  we  do  not  understand,  that  our 
only  concern  in  this  world  is  to  keep  a 
guileless  spirit,  a  conscience  void  of  oflence  ? 
Alas,  that  we  should  suffer  such  things  as 
love  of  lucre,  or  of  pre-eminence,  or  of 
sensual  pleasure,  or  jealous  and  envious 


SPIRITUAL    JOY.  85 

and  irascible  feelings,  to  rest  in  our  bosoms, 
and  stay  there  from  day  to  day,  and  week 
to  week,  and  month  to  month,  in  the  place 
which  should  be  ever  sacred  to  the  gracious 
affections  ;  in  the  temple  of  the  Holy 
Ghost !  Alas,  that  we  should  be  so  infre- 
quent, so  cursory,  so  cold  in  prayer;  so 
seldom  in  fastings,  so  formal  and  hfeless  in 
the  duties  of  the  sanctuary  :  that  we  should 
be  so  uncircumspect  in  speech,  so  little  intent 
on  walking  in  the  Spirit ;  in  all  the  pursuits 
of  life,  so  regardless  of  the  great  principle 
of  Christian  morals,  which  demands  that 
we  do  all  things,  even  to  eating  and  drink- 
ing, to  the  glory  of  God;  that  we  should 
have  so  little  fellowship,  (might  we  not 
rather  say,  such  disagreement  ?)  with  Paul, 
in  his  purpose  to  do  but  this  one  thing  all 
his  life  long,  —  forgetting  the  things  behind, 
and  reaching  forth  to  those  before,  to  press 
towards  the  mark,  for  the  prize  of  his  high 
calling  ?  Here  is  the  secret  of  our  want 
of  religious  joy,  of  our  spiritual  doubts  and 


RELIGION  OF  THE   BIBLE. 


fears  ;  and  also  of  our  readiness  to  justify 
them.  But  shall  such  things  vitiate  and 
set  aside  the  law  of  Christ's  kingdom  be- 
fore recited,  rejoice  in  the  Lord  always,  and 
again  I  say  rejoice  ? 

No,  this  is  as  irreversible  as  any  other 
statute  of  the  eternal  realm.  It  has  been 
given  out,  not  to  be  neglected,  but  obeyed. 
It  is  the  duty  of  all  Christians  to  rejoice 
evermore,  and  the  importance  of  their  ful- 
filling this  duty,  no  tongue  can  fully  tell. 
Immortal  souls,  in  countless  multitudes, 
have  gone  to  an  undone  eternity,  in  conse- 
quence of  its  not  having  been  fulfilled  ;  the 
salvation  of  the  world  still  lingers  from  the 
same  cause  ;  for  want  of  holy  joy  in  the 
church,  all  the  means  of  grace  in  operation 
are  comparatively  ineffectual ;  the  triumph 
of  the  gospel  is  kept  back,  on  this  sole  ac- 
count ;  and  the  gloominess  and  sadness  of 
Christians,  keep  up  a  sort  of  rejoicing 
among  the  spirits  of  darkness. 


III. 

DOING   GOOD. 


PART   FIRST. 


That  portion  of  mankind  who  acquire  dis- 
tinction and  influence,  ordinarily  choose  to 
themselves  some  profession  or  course  of 
life,  in  which  they  think  they  can  exert 
themselves  to  the  best  advantage.  Some 
prefer  the  life  of  a  soldier ;  some  devote 
themselves  to  politics ;  some  to  science  and 
literature,  some  to  the  arts,  some  to  trade, 
and  some  to  the  sacred  interests  of  reli- 
gion. Of  those  who  take  the  last  as  their 
appropriate  calling,  a  part  labour  in  the 
field  of  intellectual  theology ;  a  part  choose 
a  life  of  prayer  and  contemplation ;  and  a 
part  employ  themselves  in  works  of  active 
goodness. 


88  RELIGION   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

Had  men,  previously  to  our  Lord's  ap- 
pearance in  the  flesh,  been  called  on  to 
consider  how  he  would  probably  occupy 
himself  while  an  inhabitant  of  our  world, 
different  anticipations,  doubtless,  would 
have  been  conceived  on  that  subject. 
While  he  had  not  as  yet  lived  among  men, 
there  was  room  for  a  diversity  of  opinion 
as  to  what  probably  would  be  the  man- 
ner of  his  life.  Some  we  know  were  pre- 
pared by  their  tastes  and  their  hopes  to 
conclude  at  once  that  he  would  be  a  great 
military  commander,  and  would  fill  the 
world  with  the  fame  of  his  battles  and  his 
victories.  Some  doubtless  would  have  ex- 
pected that  he  would  take  chief  rank  among 
economists  and  statesmen.  Some  would 
have  thought  all  pursuits  unworthy  of  him, 
but  those  of  philosophy  and  learning.  And 
some  enamoured  themselves  of  sacred  sci- 
ence, would  have  deemed  it  reproachful  to 
a  person  of  such  high  and  intelhgent  sanc- 
tity, to  suppose  that  his  pursuits  would  be 


DOING  GOOD. 


any  other  than  those  of  a  retired  and  la- 
borious student  and  commentator  of  the 
inspired  writings. 

His  Ufe  on  the  earth  is  now  past.  The 
Word  has  been  made  flesh,  and  has  dwelt 
with  men  ;  and  how  he  spent  his  days,  af- 
ter his  entrance  into  public  life,  we  are 
particularly  informed.  A  summary  of  the 
account  which  has  been  given  us,  is  con- 
tained in  the  simple  declaration  of  the  sa- 
cred historian,  that  he  went  about  doing  good. 
He  found  himself  in  an  afflicted  and  needy 
world,  and  he  devoted  himself  to  works  of 
mercy.  Mankind  about  him  were  ignorant, 
and  he  taught  them ;  they  were  depraved, 
and  he  reclaimed  them  ;  they  were  in  sor- 
row, and  he  comforted  them ;  they  were 
diseased,  and  he  healed  them ;  they  were 
oppressed,  and  he  delivered  them.  He  per- 
formed these  offices  of  benevolence,  not 
only  indirectly  by  the  agency  of  others, 
but  by  his  own  personal  and  indefatigable 
labours.  He  did  not  fix  himself  in  one 
8* 


90 


RELIGION  OF  THE   BIBLE. 


place,  and  require  those  who  needed  his 
aid  to  find  him  out,  and  come  to  him,  and 
wait  his  convenience  ;  but  led  an  itinerant 
and  migratory  life,  seeking  out  spheres  and 
occasions  of  beneficent  action,  by  explora- 
tory and  pedestrian  journeys.  He  passed 
in  this  manner,  not  a  portion  only,  but  the 
whole  of  his  public  life.  Nothing  could  di- 
vert him  from  this  course  ;  —  not  ungrate- 
ful neglect  from  the  objects  of  his  kind- 
ness ;  not  his  deep  personal  necessities ; 
not  the  greatest  providential  discourage- 
ments ;  not  unrelenting  persecution  and 
constant  peril  of  life.  He  met  unkindess, 
opposition  and  danger  in  every  form ;  he 
met  them  unmoved ;  and  having  lived  for 
man,  he  closed  his  peculiar  course  by  as- 
cending the  cross  as  his  substitute,  and  dy- 
ing to  redeem  him  from  the  guilt  and  the 
curse  of  sin. 

In  this  manner  did  Christ  pass  his  days 
on  earth  :  who  would  previously  have  con- 
cluded that  such  would  have  been  his  way 


DOING  GOOD.  91 

of  life  ?  Yet  here  let  us  ask  two  questions : 
First,  was  it  not  a  manner  of  life  which 
became  him  ?  On  this  point  there  can  now 
be  but  one  opinion.  The  whole  world 
must  give  the  question  an  affirmative  an- 
swer. Whatever  might  have  been  thought 
before,  now  that  we  know  what  our  Sav- 
iour's life  was,  it  appears  so  manifestly 
becoming  the  purity  and  elevation  of  his 
character,  in  all  respects,  that  we  would 
never  think  of  bringing  any  other  mode  of 
life  into  comparison  with  it,  as  proper  to 
be  pursued  by  him.  The  life  then  of  Christ, 
was  such  as  became  him.  The  other 
question  is.  Was  it  such,  as,  in  their  meas- 
ure, and  making  due  allowance  for  differ- 
ence of  relations  and  circumstances,  would 
become  his  disciples  ?  Although  we  are 
well  aware  that  this  question  is  already  an- 
swered also  in  the  affirmative,  by  the 
conscience  of  the  reader,  we  do  not  deem 
it  needless  to  set  forth  the  evidences  on 
which  an  intelligent  answer  to  it  must  rest. 


92  RELIGION  OF  THE   BIBLE. 

Let  US,  however,  to  prevent  mistake, 
premise  one  explanatory  remark.  Possi- 
bly the  reader  has  already  raised  in  his 
own  mind,  inquiries  like  the  following  : 
How  can  I  imitate  the  life  of  Christ  ?  I 
have  not  his  resources,  and  his  powers. 
He  had  no  domestic  cares  and  responsibili- 
ties. It  is  impossible  I  should  be  all  the 
time  directly  occupied,  in  what  are  called 
works  of  beneficence.  I  shall,  moreover, 
deny  the  faith,  and  be  worse  than  an  infi- 
del, if  I  do  not  make  provision  for  myself 
and  my  household.  These  things  are  in- 
deed so  ;  but  let  them  not  be  perverted. 
Be  it,  that  you  cannot  do  as  much  good, 
or  spend  as  much  time  in  works  of  direct 
beneficence,  as  did  your  Lord  and  Master; 
you  can  put  yourself  absolutely  under  the 
law  of  beneficence ;  and  make  doing  good 
the  grand  object  of  your  life  ;  and  while 
faithful  in  accomplishing  that  object,  to  the 
duties  of  your  calling,  and  the  claims  of 
domestic  relatives,  you  may  give  the  entire 


DOING  GOOD. 


remainder  of  time  and  substance  to  deeds 
of  active  goodness ;  and  thus  may  you 
have  the  whole  of  life  stamped  with  benefi- 
cence. The  extent  to  which  men  can  em- 
ploy themselves  in  direct  offices  of  benefi- 
cence, varies  with  different  persons.  Some 
must  give  almost  their  whole  time  to  pro- 
viding for  their  families  or  themselves. 
Some  can  spare  several  hours  of  every 
day ;  and  some  have  their  whole  life  at 
their  disposal,  and  can  devote  themselves 
absolutely  to  works  of  mercy.  All,  how- 
ever, can  live  under  the  control  of  the  be- 
neficent principle  ;  all  can  be  actuated  by 
that  principle,  and  not  merely  by  blind  in- 
stinct or  cold  responsibility,  even  in  domes- 
tic duties  and  labours  ;  all,  in  this  way,  can 
make  the  whole  of  life  one  scene  of  benefi- 
cent action.  The  demand  is,  that  every 
Christian  be,  to  the  extent  of  his  ability,  a 
practical  philanthropist;  be  such  in  his 
heart,  such  in  his  closet,  such  in  his  family, 
such  in  his  neighbourhood,   such   in   the 


94  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

world ;  in  short,  that  he  make  doing  good 
to  his  fellow-creatures,  however  related  to 
them,  the  distinct  object  and  purpose  of 
his  existence  on  earth.  This  is  the  de- 
mand ;  what  Christian,  with  the  consent  of 
his  own  conscience,  can  resist  it  ?  Let  us 
now  prosecute  the  subject. 

I.  It  is  one  of  the  known  ends  of  Christ's 
living  and  acting  in  the  presence  of  his 
disciples,  to  show  them  by  hi-s  example 
how  they  ought  to  live,  and  how  they  must 
live,  if  they  would  make  good  their  claim 
to  be  regarded  as  his  sincere  followers. 
He  left  them  an  example,  that  they  should 
follow  his  steps.  Peculiar  as  his  way  of 
living  was,  he  went  before  them  in  that 
way  as  their  exemplar  and  leader.  They 
saw  in  -his  singular  life  of  beneficence, 
what  commanded  their  wonder,  their  con- 
fidence,* their  worship ;  but  they  also  saw 
THE  PATTERN  to  which  their  own  lives 
should*  be  conformed;  a  pattern  shown 
them  expressly  for  their  imitation.     We 


DOING   GOOD.  96 

would  say  this  with  emphasis,  because  it 
seems  to  have  ahiiost  escaped  considera- 
tion.    It  lias  been  commonly  thought  that 
Christ  should  be  imitated  by  his  disciples, 
in  his  meekness,  patience,  gentleness,  and 
other  passive  virtues ;  but  has  it  been  the 
general  opinion  that  they  should  also  re- 
semble him  in  that  course  of  self-denying 
beneficence,    the   fulfilment  of  which  fur- 
nished the  occasions  of  his  exercising  these 
quahties  ?  If  Christians  have  been  resigned 
under  the  bereavements  and  trials  which 
are  common  to  man,  they  have  been  com- 
mended as  being  like  their  Lord.     We  do 
not  deny  the  justness  of  the  commendation, 
as  far  as  there  is  ground  for  it ;  but  simply 
ask  whether  the  resemblance  should  hold 
in  nothing  more  than  the  manner  of  meet- 
ing common  providential  discipline  ?  Should 
it  be  limited  to,  or  chiefly  consist  in  the 
passive  virtues  ?      Christ  was   contented, 
meek,  unresisting,  prayerful ;  and  so  should 
be  his  disciples.   But  Christ  also  lived  not 


96  RELIGION  OF  THE   BIBLE. 

for  himself,  but  bare  the  sorrows  and  afflic- 
tions of  man,  and  gave  his  strength  and  life 
to  works  of  active  goodness :  Should  not 
his  disciples  do  the  same  ?  Where  do  we 
learn  that  his  example  in  this  respect,  was 
not  set  to  be  imitated  ?  It  has  been  ad- 
mired ;  it  has  been  greatly  praised ;  why 
should  it  not  have  been  followed  ? 

II.  It  is  the  universal  conviction,  that 
such  a  life  as  that  of  our  Saviour's  in  such 
a  world  as  this,  is  the  highest  and  best 
which  can  be  lived;  and  hence  the  un- 
questionable fitness  between  his  life  and 
the  perfection  of  his  character.  But  this 
shows  demonstratively  that  Christ's  mode 
of  hfe  should  be  chosen  by  his  followers. 
Had  it  not  been  his  design  to  show  them 
by  his  manner  of  life,  what  theirs  should  be, 
yet  they  could  not  intelligently  and  seriously 
reflect  on  that  specimen  of  living  among 
men,  without  feeling  a  conviction  that  they 
ought  to  imitate  it.  It  is  unquestionably 
the  best  mode  of  spending  life,  and  the  ra 


DOING  GOOD.  79 

tional  nature  of  man  inclines  him  to  what 
he  knows  to  be  the  highest  and  best.  The 
desire  of  perfection,  however  far  he  may- 
be from  perfection  itself,  is  inwrought  in 
his  being.  Let  a  man  do  a  thing,  and  then 
find  that  he  might  have  done  better,  and  if 
true  to  his  nature,  he  will  regret  that  he 
did  not  perform  the  better  deed.  Let  him 
have  a  greater  and  a  less  good  before  him 
sohciting  his  preference,  and  he  will  do 
violence  to  himself  if  he  does  not  choose 
the  greater.  The  perfection,  therefore,  of 
our  Saviour's  life,  instead  of  being  a  reason 
why  it  should  not,  is  the  highest  possible 
reason  why  it  should  be  imitated  by  his 
followers.  And  of  the  force  of  this  reason 
they  cannot  but  be  sometimes  conscious. 
As  they  look  upon  that  life  of  perfect  be- 
neficence, the  very  law  of  their  being 
prompts  them  to  imitate  it ;  and  if  they 
decline,  or  just  in  so  far  as  they  do  de- 
cline, that  law  condemns  them  for  doing 
so  :  And  many  a  professed  Christian  passes 
9 


98  RELIGION  OF   THE   BIBLE. 

his  lifetime  under  a  consciousness  more  or 
less  vivid,  that  he  is  hastening  to  the  retri- 
butions of  eternity  with  the  sentence  of 
this  law  in  full  force  against  him.  How 
many  members  are  there  of  the  christian 
church,  who  while  they  live  for  self-ad- 
vancement or  self-indulgence,  and  cannot 
help  remembering  how  different  from  theirs 
was  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ,  know  better 
than  if  an  angel's  tongue  had  told  them, 
that  there  is  no  way  of  justifying  their  mode 
of  passing  away  their  days.  They  may 
not  reflect  very  definitely  on  the  subject ; 
but  the  subject  though  kept  at  a  distance, 
and  in  the  shade,  has  a  face  of  terror  to 
their  hearts,  and  haunts  them  in  the  night 
season,  and  sometimes  troubles  them  amid 
the  activities  and  pursuits  of  the  day. 

III.  That  Christ's  way  of  living  in  this 
world  should,  as  far  as  practicable,  be  chosen 
by  his  followers,  is  the  natural  inference 
from  the  essential  conformity,  the  spiritual 
oneness,  which,    according   to  Scripture, 


DOING    GOOD.  99 

subsists  between  them  and  him.  They 
were  from  eternity,  predestinated  to  be 
conformed  to  his  image,  and  this,  their  high 
election,  is  made  sure  in  the  day  of  their 
second  birth,  when  they  are  taken  out  of 
the  corrupt  human  mass,  and  fashioned  into 
the  Hkeness  of  the  great  Refiner  and  Puri- 
fier himself.  Now  what  should  be  hence 
concluded  respecting  their  external  conver- 
sation and  behaviour  among  men?  Like 
Christ,  in  spirit  or  the  inner  life,  shall  they 
be  unlike  him  in  the  manner  of  their  out- 
ward life  ?  Let  due  allowance  be  made  for 
remaining  imperfection  and  the  weakness 
of  the  flesh ;  still  there  is  substantial  one- 
ness with  Christ  in  the  inner  man  of  the 
heart,  and  shall  there  not  be  substantial 
oneness  with  him  also  in  conduct  and  ex- 
ternal developement  ?  Is  natural  expecta- 
tion in  this  case  groundless  ?  Is  the  con- 
nexion here  dissolved  between  the  cause 
and  its  efiect?  Must  we  not  adhere  to 
the  rule,  hy  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them, 


100  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

though  by  doing  so,  we  should  be  obhged 
to  admit  that  the  mahgnant  remark  of  infi- 
dehty  is  true,  that  there  are  no  such  per- 
sons as  Christians  on  earth  ? 

IV.  That  the  hfe  of  Christians  m  this 
world  should,  like  that  of  their  Lord,  be  a 
life  of  beneficence,  is  a  conviction  which 
must  at  once  seize  any  mind,  that  with  a 
just  idea  of  Christian  character,  associates 
a  recollection  of  the  real  state  of  the  world. 
There  was  nothing  arbitrary  in  Christ's 
choosing  the  mode  of  hfe  he  pursued ;  and, 
there  is  nothing  arbitrary  in  the  requisition 
that  Christians  should  imitate  it.  The  ex- 
ample of  Christ  was  but  true  virtue  devel- 
opeing  itself  fitly  in  the  circumstances  in 
which  he  found  himself  when  his  dwelling 
was  with  men.  It  was  a  form,  which  holi- 
ness, carried  out  into  just  action,  in  such 
a  world  as  ours,  naturally  assumes.  Holi- 
ness is  benevolence ;  but  how  can  benevo- 
lence with  eyes  to  see,  and  ears  to  hear, 
and  feet  to  walk,  and  hands  to  help,  refrain 


DOING  GOOD.  101 

in  such  a  world  as  this,  from  active  and 
self-denying  exertions  to  do  good  ?  Wheth- 
er we  might  innocently  give  ourselves  up 
to  quiet  contemplations,  or  private  indul- 
gences, or  projects  for  increasing  our  per- 
sonal possessions,  if  we  were  among  a  race 
of  sinless  and  happy  beings,  we  need  not 
inquire ;  but  can  we  pretend  to  benevolence, 
and  live  for  any  such  purpose,  while  we 
have  our  residence  amidst  such  scenes  and 
circumstances  as  those  in  which  we  are 
passing  our  days  ?  Too  few  even  of  Chris- 
tians appear  to  be  aware  of  their  circum- 
stances. How  little  do  any  of  us  reflect 
that  we  cannot  go  abroad  into  the  streets 
without  passing  by  some  habitation  of  beg- 
gary, of  disease,  or  of  death ;  or  what  is 
worse,  of  ignorance  and  crime,  where  be- 
nevolence might  be  doing  works  of  good- 
ness, at  which  angels  would  renew  their 
songs  of  praise  ?  While  we  are  sitting 
together  in  the  sanctuary,  or  rejoicing  in 
the  society  of  our  friends,  or  pursuing  our 
9* 


102  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

gainful  business,  how  seldom  or  how  slightly 
do  we  think  that  men  not  far  distant  from 
us,  are  groaning  life  away  in  want  and 
distress,  in  dungeons  and  in  chains  ;  and 
that  widows  and  orphans,  paupers,  pris- 
oners, and  others  ready  to  perish,  far  and 
near,  and  all  the  world  over,  are  by  their 
deep  necessities  crymg  aloud  for  our  pity 
and  our  assistance  !  And  more  heart-rend- 
ing still,  that  nearly  the  whole  world  are 
lying  in  the  chains  and  under  the  curse  of 
sin ;  and  generation  after  generation  are 
led  captive  of  the  great  destroyer,  at  his 
will,  into  the  prisons  of  eternal  death  !  But 
should  Christians  be  thus  unmindful  that  it 
is  in  such  a  world  they  have  their  dwelling  ? 
If  nothing  could  be  done  by  them  to  alle- 
viate human  wretchedness,  they  might  well 
forbear  beneficent  effort,  and  live  for  other 
purposes  than  to  do  good  to  men.  But  as 
this  is  a  world  of  hope  as  well  as  of  sorrow, 
and  as  we  have,  through  the  bounty  of 
Providence   and   the   sacrifice   of  Christ, 


DOING  GOOD.  103 

ample  remedies  for  both  the  temporal  and 
spiritual  ills  of  man,  where  is  our  benevo- 
lence, if  we  do  not  exert  ourselves  to  make 
full  proof  of  these  remedies  ?  Must  it 
not  astonish  the  holy  angels  to  see  benev- 
olent beings  in  our  circumstances  unem- 
ployed in  doing  good  ?  Is  it  strange  that 
in  these  circumstances  our  Saviour  should 
have  devoted  himself  to  works  of  mercy 
and  compassion  ?  Where  is  the  vigour  of 
piety  in  the  church,  when  but  here  and 
there  can  a  Christian  be  found  who  lives 
only  to  be  useful  to  his  perishing  fellow- 
men,  and  he  passes  too  often  for  little  bet- 
ter than  a  well  meaning  enthusiast  ? 

V.  As  the  will  or  main  purpose  of  God 
concerning  his  people,  in  all  that  he  has 
done  and  is  doing  for  them,  by  his  Son, 
his  Spirit,  his  servants,  his  word  and  ordi- 
nances, and  his  high  Providence,  is  their 
sanctification  or  personal  holiness  ;  and  as 
hohness  in  such  circumstances  as  ours 
naturally  takes  the  form  of  beneficence, 


104  RELIGION  OF  THE   BIBLE. 

it  is  evident  that  what  God  is  chiefly  intent 
upon,  in  all  things  respecting  us,  is  that  our 
life  should  be  a  life  of  active  goodness. 

But  we  are  not  left  to  learn  this  by  in- 
ference. The  Scriptures  declare  it  ex- 
pressly and  with  the  strongest  emphasis. 
It  is  the  import  of  that  saying  of  Christ,  the 
saying  not  so  much  of  his  lips  on  any  one 
occasion,  as  of  his  whole  ministry  and  ap- 
pearance among  men, — "  it  is  more  blessed 
to  give  than  to  receive."  What  else  too  is 
the  import  of  our  being  created  in  Christ 
unto  good  works  i  and  of  Christ's  giving 
himself  for  us,  that  he  might  purify  unto 
himself  a  peculiar  people,  zealous  of  good 
works  ;  and  of  that  superlative  praise  which 
every  part  of  Scripture  conspires  to  bestow 
upon  the  very  life  of  which  we  speak ; 
prophets,  apostles,  and  louder  than  all  the 
rest,  Christ  himself,  joining  in  the  inspired 
chorus  of  commendation  ?  And  above  all, 
what  is  the  drift  and  meaning  of  that  grand 


DOING  GOOD.  105 

prediction  of  our  Saviour,*  that  acts  ofhe- 
nejicence  will  he  the  test  and  touchstone  of 
eternal  destiny,  at  the  last  great  day  ?  Has 
not  God  spoken  decisively  enough  as  to 
what  it  is,  he  would  have  his  people  employ 
themselves  about,  during  the  short  season 
of  this  mortal  life  ? 

VI.  It  is  a  high  argument  why  all  Chris- 
tians should  make  the  life  of  Christ  the 
model  of  their  own,  that  it  is  only  by  means 
of  practical  beneficence  on  their  part  that 
Christianity  can  advance  among  mankind. 
That  it  is  the  design  of  its  author  that  this 
divine  religion  should  become  universal, 
and  that  it  will  in  fact  become  so,  should 
be  no  more  doubted  than  that  it  is  true,  and 
is  alike  needful  to  all  men.  Further,  that 
it  is  to  become  universal  by  the  instrumen- 
tality of  Christians  themselves,  is  as  cer- 
tain as  the  truth  of  any  fact  or  doctrine 
which  it  contains.  But  the  precise  sort  of  in- 
strumental influeiice  which  Christians  should 

*  Matthew  xxv. 


106  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

mainly  rely  on  for  its  propagation,  seems 
not  to  have  been  well  understood  or  well 
considered  since  the  gospel's  primitive  tri- 
umph. That  triumph  was,  under  the  divine 
blessing,  the  achievement,  not  of  discus- 
sion, or  controversy,  or  intellectual  labours, 
but  of  active  goodness.  Christians,  —  not 
the  Apostles  only,  but  private  Christians  of 
both  sexes  and  of  every  condition,  —  in 
accordance  with  the  last  solemn  charge  of 
their  Lord,  devoted  themselves  collectively 
and  personally  to  the  spreading  of  Chris- 
tianity over  the  world.  And  what  was 
their  plan  for  carrying  the  work  on  ?  They 
had  no  plan  but  such  as  the  living  spring 
of  benevolence  in  their  own  breasts  sug- 
gested  to  every  one  ;  the  plan  of  holy  love 
longing  to  honour  its  great  Benefactor,  by 
living,  and  if  needs  be,  dying  as  he  did,  for 
the  present  and  eternal  well-being  of  man- 
kind. They  had  none  of  our  means  and 
facihties  for  combined  action  ;  no  press, 
almost  no  books  j  (the  Christian  faith,  it 


DOING  GOOD. 


107 


has  been  truly  said,  is  not  unknown  to  have 
spread  all  over  Asia,   ere  any  gospel  or 
epistle  was  seen  in  writing  ;)  no  connexion 
with,  no  countenance  from  the  State ;  no 
opportunities  even  for  free  intercommunion 
among  themselves  ;  no  patronage  but  that 
of  heaven  ;  no  impulse  of  sectarian  zeal ; 
no  motives  of  personal  advantage.     They 
went  individually  to  work,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  one  spirit,  —  that   spirit  in   their 
Saviour,  which  made  him  such  a  martyr  in 
the  cause  of  man.     It  is  granted  and  should 
not  be  overlooked,  that  there  were  imper- 
fections in  the  first  Christians;  they  had 
their  personal  faults ;  there  were  errors,  too, 
among  them ;  their  doctrinal  faith,  in  some 
very    important    points,   was    imperfectly 
defined,  and  in  others  it  was  erroneous; 
they  were  annoyed  by  philosophical  spec- 
ulations ;  some  of  their  great  teachers  held 
notions   which,   had    they  lived   in  other 
times,  would  have  subjected  them  to  excis- 
ion from  the  church.     But  they  abounded 


108  RELIGION   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

in  that  charity  which  is  the  end  of  the  gos- 
pel, and  is  better  and  more  enduring  than 
faith ;  they  loved  one  another,  and  they 
loved  and  lived  for  the  welfare  of  their  fel- 
low men.  And  marred  as  the  record  of 
their  acts  is  by  various  sorts  of  blemishes,  it 
is,  as  a  whole,  so  brightened  and  sanctified 
by  the  accounts  it  contains  of  their  match- 
less beneficence,  that  the  annals  of  the 
world  furnish  no  parallel  to  it.  How  pleas- 
ant would  it  be,  were  there  time,  to  collect 
in  one  view,  the  evidences  of  their  strange 
philanthropy ;  but  we  must  not  stay  to  at- 
tempt this ;  let  us  only  call  to  mind  the  suc- 
cess of  their  mode  of  evangelism.  The 
world  in  requital  for  their  self-sacrificing 
charity,  accounted  them  as  sheep  for  the 
slaughter,  and  pursued  them  with  fire  and 
sword,  and  every  means  of  death  and  tor- 
ture ;  but  the  influence  of  their  beneficent 
spirit  could  not  be  overcome ;  it  prevailed 
over  whatever  was  adverse  among  them- 
selves ;  it  covered  the  multitude  of  their 


DOING  GOOD.  109 

imperfections ;  it  turned  the  very  violence 
of  the  world  in  their  favour ;  and  their 
religion,  after  three  centuries  of  bloody- 
persecution,  became  the  religion  of  civil- 
ized man.  Their  mode  of  spreading  Chris- 
tianity should  be  adopted  in  our  day.  It 
is  the  appointed  mode,  the  best  mode,  the 
only  adequate  mode.  It  should  be  adopted 
forthwith  throughout  every  part  of  Christen- 
dom. Some  seem  to  think  that  Christianity 
cannot  spread  until  our  theology  becomes 
purer,  and  our  biblical  literature  is  im- 
proved ;  some  suppose  the  reformation  of 
civil  government  and  men's  notions  of  hu- 
man rights  an  indispensable  preliminary. 
Some  ascribe  the  general  stagnation  of  the 
gospel  to  one  thing  and  some  to  another ; 
but  whatever  of  truth  there  may  be  in  the 
opinions  of  different  persons  on  the  subject, 
the  main  difficulty  is  palpably  manifest. 
Let  reformation  proceed  as  fast  as  possi- 
ble ;  whatever  is  wrong  in  theory  or  prac- 
tice, in  church  or  State,  should  be  cor- 
10 


110  RELIGION   OF  THE  filBLE. 

rected;  but  let  all  be  reformed,  and  re- 
formed perfectly,  that  needs  reformation ; 
still  if  Christians  do  not,  as  once  they  did, 
give  their  own  selves  to  the  work  of  the 
Lord,  and  by  individual  examples  of  active 
goodness,  by  living  and  labouring  in  their 
own  persons  for  the  temporal  and  eter- 
nal welfare  of  mankind,  make  their  light 
so  to  shine  before  men,  that  they  seei7ig  their 
good  works  may  glorify  God,  we  should  not 
think  that  the  conversion  of  the  world  is 
drawing  nigh.  So  Scripture  in  many 
places*  teach  us;  and  so  should  we  con- 
clude from  our  own  reflection.  It  is  not 
enough  that  we  support  societies  for  reform- 
ing and  enlightening  mankind ;  this  we  may 
do  and  yet  individually  be  specimens  not 
of  self-denying  beneficence,  but  of  luxuri- 
ous and  splendid  living  ;  we  must  all,  male 
and  female,  old  and  young,  make  doing 
good  in  the  world  the  purpose  of  life,  the 

♦  Matthew  v.    13,  14,   compared   with  16.      1  Peter  ii.    12. 
John  XV.  8,  etc 


DOING  GOOD.  Ill 

object  of  existence.  The  world  may  be 
adequately  supplied  with  the  Scriptures 
and  other  books  ;  with  schools,  and  church- 
es and  preachers  ;  but  all  will  not  suffice. 
The  general  unbelief  of  men  will  never  be 
overcome  while  Christians  themselves  seem 
in  truth  unbelievers,  as  they  always  will 
seem  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  while  their 
lives  are  not  those  of  active  beneficence. 
Their  religion  demands  such  lives  of  them, 
and  demands  this  so  sirenuously,  that  how 
they  can  sincerely  believe  it  themselves, 
and  live  so  much  like  others,  the  world 
cannot  be  made  to  comprehend.  Let  them 
insist  as  they  please  that  their  principles 
should  be  judged  of  irrespectively  of  their 
practice,  the  world  will  not  yield  to  them 
here  :  they  must  have  deeds,  not  profes- 
sions ;  examples,  not  precepts ;  charity, 
not  knowledge.  The  doctrines  of  our  re- 
ligion must  put  on  the  Uving  forms  of  love, 
and  move  to  and  fro  among  men  in  these 
winning  forms,  and  demonstrate  their  di- 


112  RilLIGION   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

vinity  before  the  eyes  of  all,  by  fruits  of 
goodness  after  their  own  kind.  The  doc- 
trines, —  that  men  are  exposed  to  endless 
miseries, — that  Christ  died  to  save  them,  — 
that  they  must,  in  order  to  be  saved,  repent 
and  believe  the  gospel,  —  that  the  things 
of  this  life  are  vanity,  and  eternity  alone 
worth  a  serious  thought,  —  that  death  is 
followed  by  the  judgement,  and  the  judge- 
ment by  doom  in  hell  or  heaven,  unchange- 
able and  everlasting  —  these  simple  doc- 
trines must  assert  themselves  not  in  books 
and  creeds  only,  but  in  correspondent  prac- 
tice ;  and  no  practice  is  correspondent, 
the  world  will  always  think,  short  of  a  life 
devoted  to  the  business  of  savins  men. 


IV. 
DOING  GOOD. 


PART   SECOND. 

VII.  It  is  thought  by  some,  as  has  been 
already  remarked,  that  Christianity  can 
never  prevail  till  our  theology  is  improved. 
"  Our  interpretation  of  Christianity,"  it  is 
said,*  "  may  be  good,  and  may  be  pure 
enough  for  private  use  ;  it  may  be  good  in 
the  closet,  good  as  the  source  of  the  mo- 
tives of  common  life,  and  good  as  the 
ground  of  hope  in  death,  and  yet  maybe  al- 
together unfit  for  conquest,  and  triumph." 
We  shall  not  controvert  this  supposition. 
Let  it  be  assumed  that  our  interpretation  of 
Christianity  is  so  unfit ;  that "  indefinite  mis- 

♦  Fanaticism,  p.  514. 

10* 


114  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

conceptions  affecting  the  divine  character 
and  government,  or  that  certain  modes  of 
feeling,  generated  in  evil  days  and  still  un- 
corrected, exist  and  operate  to  benumb  the 
impulsive  and  expansive  energies  of  the 
gospel."  Be  the  fact  so ;  —  it  is  a  conclusive 
argument  in  favour  of  that  improvement  in 
our  practical  religion  on  which  I  am  insist- 
ing. If  the  world  must  wait  in  its  sin  and 
ruin,  until  our  theological  views  be  correct- 
ed, we  should  be  at  the  business  of  cor- 
recting them  with  all  possible  diligence. 
But  how  are  they  to  be  corrected  ?  Is  there 
any  room  for  hesitation  in  giving  an  answer 
to  this  question  ?  How  is  our  theology, 
our  interpretation  of  Christianity,  to  receive 
the  needful  improvement  ?  By  revising  the 
ancient  systems  of  divinity,  comparing  them 
with  the  modern,  and  framing  other  systems 
under  the  advantages  of  greater  light,  and 
a  purer  philosophy  ?  By  philologoical  stu- 
dies, and  the  application  of  juster  herme- 
neutical  principles  in  explaining  the  sacred 


DOING   GOOD.  115 

text  ?  By  a  minuter  analysis  of  subjects, 
by  free  discussion,  by  controversy,  and  de- 
bate ?  By  the  multiplication  of  books,  and 
writers,  and  theological  schools  ?  Without 
meaning  to  say  aught  against  such  expedi- 
ents, we  cannot  but  ask,  if  these  be  the  means 
on  which  we  must  chiefly  rely  ?  How 
much  longer  then  must  the  world  remain 
perishing  for  lack  of  vision  ?  After  trying 
such  means  more  than  a  thousand  years, 
behold  Christians  still  without  a  sufficiently 
pure  theology ;  divided,  and  angrily  con- 
tending among  themselves  about  doctrine  ; 
some  anathematizing  and  seceding  from 
others ;  and  new  sects  and  theories  multi- 
plying almost  daily.  Has  the  right  way 
been  followed  in  order  to  attain  and  propa- 
gate just  views  in  theology  ?  We  might 
pause  in  our  reply,  if  a  voice  from  heaven 
had  not  put  the  reply  into  our  lips.  A  mis- 
take, a  strange  mistake  has  been  made. 
The  light  of  true  knowledge  in  divine 
things,  shines  with  greater  purity  and  bright- 


116  RELIGION   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

ness,  not  in  the  cloister  of  the  recluse,  the 
study  of  the  scholar,  the  groves  of  philoso- 
phy, the  halls  of  sacred  science,  but  in  the 
open  and  wide  field  where  active  goodness 
performs  its  journeys  and  its  labours.  On 
that  field  assuredly,  more  than  any  where 
else  on  earth,  rests  the  sunlight  of  spiritual 
truth.  There,  is  to  be  found  the  light  of 
life,  in  which  heavenly  minds  rejoice,  the 
light  of  God's  countenance,  the  illumination 
of  the  spirit,  —  that  which  alone  deserves 
to  be  called  light.  He  it  is  who  best 
knows  the  truth,  and  will  know  it  more  and 
more,  who  doeth  the  will  of  God.  It  is 
not  he  who  studies  or  thinks,  but  he  who 
loveth,  that  knoweth  God,  for  God  is  Love. 
If  Christians  would  cease  their  unseemly 
strife  among  themselves,  and  subject  their 
hearts  and  minds  to  the  dominion  of  holy 
love  ;  —  that  is,  if  they  would  put  the  truth, 
as  far  as  they  know  it,  into  just  practice  ;  — 
they  would  forthwith  find  themselves  walk- 
ing in  the  light,  and  all   would  soon   be 


DOING   GOOD.  117 

light,  both  in  the  church  and  in  the  world. 
Let  no  one  think  this  an  extravagant  or  an 
idle  remark.  It  will  bear  to  be  reflected 
on.  Let  the  first  principles  of  the  gospel, — 
that  men  are  ruined  sinners,  that  Christ 
died  to  save  them,  that  by  repentance  and 
faith  in  Christ  they  may  be  saved,  that  the 
renewing  Spirit  has  come,  and  that  God 
waits  to  give  eff'ect  to  Christian  prayer 
and  pains  j  —  let  these  first  truths  live  and 
flourish,  instead  of  being  almost  disowned, 
in  the  lives  of  Christians ;  and  what  a 
commentary  on  our  general  Christianity 
would  then  be  furnished;  what  obscurity 
would  be  removed  from  the  Scriptures; 
how  soon  would  philosophy  correct  its 
mistakes,  and  repent  of  its  vain  self-reh- 
ance ;  the  watchmen  would  see  eye  to  eye ; 
the  confusions  and  contradictions  of  ages 
would  be  gone  ;  the  sun  of  heaven  would 
rise  on  the  earth  ;  and  the  waves  of  spi- 
ritual knowledge  would  roll  from  land  to 
land,  like  waves  of  the  mighty  deep. 


118  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

Yet  let  no  one  misunderstand  us,  as  in- 
tending by  these  remarks  to  discourage 
intellectual  labours;  far  otherwise  is  our 
object.  Our  meaning  is,  that  these  and  all 
other  labours  in  the  life  of  a  Christian, 
should  be  developements  of  charity,  the 
fruit  of  the  beneficent  principle.  Paul  stu- 
died and  wrote,  as  well  as  journeyed  and 
toiled,  night  and  day,  in  direct  efforts  to 
save  men ;  but  he  sought  to  save  men,  not 
less  diligently  for  his  deep  meditations  and 
divine  manuscripts  ;  nay,  these  meditations 
and  manuscripts  themselves,  were  the  di- 
rect product  of  the  same  spirit  of  benefi- 
cence which  suggested  every  undertaking 
of  his  life,  and  carried  him  triumphantly 
through  it.  We  mean  that  it  should  be  with 
every  Christian  in  this  respect,  (teacher, 
pastor,  missionary,  as  well  as  private 
church  member,  male  and  female,)  ex- 
actly as  it  was  with  Paul  the  Apostle.  If 
they  think,  if  they  write,  if  they  speak, 
the  beneficent  principle  must  guide  their 
thought,  their  pen,  their  tongue;  and  in 


DOING   GOOD. 


119 


all  the  rest  of  their  life,  it  must  be  too  no- 
torious to  be  questioned,  that  they  live  in 
no  form  for  themselves,  but  for  the  good  of 
mankind,  and  the  glory  of  God.  We  mean 
that  it  is  only  where  and  while  it  is  thus 
with  Christians,  that  there  is  any  hope  for 
much  improvement  in  sacred  science,  from 
any  efforts  and  arrangements  which  they 
may  make  to  that  end.  Let  theology  be 
cultivated,  however  elaborately,  apart  from 
labours  of  love,  the  end  for  which  all 
Christian  truth  was  revealed,  —  apart  from 
self-denying  exertions  to  save  men,  —  apart 
from  the  effusions  of  the  Spirit  and  the 
scenes  of  revivals,  and  it  will  be  a  theology, 
an  interpretation  of  Christianity,  to  be 
anathematized  as  another  gospel,  —  the 
wisdom  of  an  aspiring  philosophy,  invested 
with  the  garb,  and  claiming  the  sacredness 
of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  in  order  the  more 
efl'ectually  to  subvert  and  explode  it. 

VIII.  Whether  we  must  have  a  purer  the- 
ology or  not,  before  Christianity  can  tri- 


120  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

umph,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  there  must 
be  a  general  and  a  great  improvement  in 
Christian  character;  and  what  is  the  way  to 
effect  this  improvement,  is  an  inquiry,  infe- 
rior in  importance  to  no  other  that  can  occu- 
py the  attention  of  Christians  of  this  age. 
To  give  the  true  answer  to  it,  is  to  propound 
the  doctrine  we  are  enforcing.  —  Two  plans 
for  improving  Christian  character,  have 
been  tried ;  one  aiming  to  accomplish  the 
object  more  directly,  the  other  more  indi- 
rectly ;  one,  rather  by  leading  the  mind  to 
introverted  thought  upon  its  own  imper- 
fections and  wants,  and  to  immediate  and 
self-stimulated  reaches  after  higlier  attain- 
ments ;  the  other  rather  by  turning  the 
mind's  regards  to  things  out  of  itself — 
things  adapted  to  enlarge  and  exalt  it,  by 
their  intrinsic  excellence.  The  one  in 
short,  relying  chiefly  on  a  life  of  medita- 
tive abstraction  and  devotion  ;  the  other, 
on  a  life  consecrated  to  offices  of  active 
goodness.     On  the  first  plan,  the  cloister, 


DOING   GOOD.  121 

the  Still  and  peaceful  closet,  is  the  chief 
sphere  of  effort ;  on  the  second,  the  wide 
and  evil  world,  where  all  is  suited  to  put 
living  virtue  to  the  test,  and  excite  the  be- 
neficent principle  into  constant  exercise. 
The  former  of  these  plans  has  been  adopt- 
ed by  the  recluses  and  pietists  of  all  ages  ; 
the  latter  was  the  plan  of  Christ  and  his 
first  disciples.  The  latter  unquestionably 
is  the  true  plan.  It  accords  with  the  gen- 
ius of  vital  religion.  The  first  pulsations 
of  divine  life  in  the  soul  of  a  Christian  are 
pulsations  of  the  beneficent  principle.  That 
same  pure  love  which  he  then  begins  to 
exercise  towards  God,  whom  he  does  not 
see,  spontaneously  flows  forth  also,  in  af- 
fectionate desires  and  kind  actions  towards 
his  fellow-men,  whom  he  does  see ;  and  he 
cannot  but  long  that  the  new  and  divine 
joy  of  which  he  is  conscious,  should  be 
shared  by  every  creature  under  heaven. 
What  course  now  should  be  taken  by  the 
new  born  child  of  grace,  to  attain  to  a  full 
11 


122  RELIGION   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

and  large  developement  of  the  spiritual  af- 
fections and  powers  ?  Should  he  shut  him- 
self out  from  all  intercourse  and  connexion 
with  a  dying  world  ?  or  devote  himself  to 
the  salvation  of  that  world  ?  By  doing  the 
first,  would  he  not  stifle  the  very  breath  of 
the  spiritual  life,  and  make  it  impossible 
for  him  ever  to  become  a  full  grown  and 
vigorous  Christian  ?  By  doing  the  last, 
and  continuing  as  he  begins,  he  would  al- 
ways retain  the  first  simplicity  of  his  spirit, 
and  become,  certainly,  a  specimen  of  Chris- 
tian manhood  and  strength,  which  the  eyes 
of  all  saints  in  heaven  and  earth,  would  re- 
joice to  behold.  This  we  know  from  ex- 
press and  manifold  testimonies  of  Scrip- 
ture* would  be  the  result ;  and  it  is  not 
difficult  to  understand  how  the  result,  un- 
der the  divine  blessing,  would  come  to 
pass.  Self-consecrated  to  doing  good,  as 
the  end  of  his  existence  upon  earth,  the  ex- 
cellency of  his  chosen  object  of  life,  must 

*  2  Peter,  i.  8,  etc. 


DUING  GOOD.  123 

by  a  law  of  his  being,  be  continually  and 
more  and  more  imprinting  itself  on  his 
heart,  and  thus,  after  a  while,  he  cannot 
but  acquire  great  elevation  of  character, 
and  be  a  man  of  God.  He  will  as  a  matter 
of  course,  we  might  almost  say  of  necessity, 
avoid  those  things  which  commonly  hinder 
grow^th  in  grace,  and  mar  God's  likeness 
in  the  soul.  He  can  take  no  part  in  reli- 
gious contentions,  the  great  bane  of  spirit- 
ual improvement ;  or  in  those  philosophi- 
cal refinements  and  subtilties,  which  work 
doubt  and  corruption  in  the  mind.  He  has 
no  time  to  give  to  those  idle  conversations 
and  companies,  which  grieve  the  Holy  Spi- 
rit, and  pollute  the  conscience.  In  the 
best  manner  possible,  he  has  armed  himself 
against  the  insidious  invasions  of  avarice, 
and  the  pride  of  life,  the  irascible  passions, 
the  impure  affections,  and  all  those  fleshly 
lusts  which  war  against  the  soul.  The 
purpose  for  which  he  lives,  raises  him  too 
near  to  heaven,  in  the  tone  and  cast  of  his 


124  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

spirit,  to  admit  of  his  being  much  annoyed 
by  these  temptations.  We  hardly  need  add 
that  it  also  exposes  him  most  advantageous- 
ly to  the  influence  of  whatever  tends  to 
elevate  and  ennoble  the  soul.  — He  will  be 
led  by  his  object  of  life,  more  constantly 
than  any  other  man,  to  consult  the  sacred 
Scriptures ;  and  he  will  consult  them  in  a 
manner  better  adapted  than  that  of  the 
most  minute  philologist,  to  inform  him  of 
their  true  meaning,  and  bring  all  his  facul- 
ties and  feelings  under  their  sanctifying 
power.  This  results  from  the  coincidence 
of  the  end  for  which  he  lives,  with  the 
end,  —  the  just  spirit  and  scope,  of  the 
Scriptures.  As  they  were  given  not  to 
afford  materials  for  criticism  and  comment, 
but  that  the  man  of  God  might  be  tho- 
roughly furnished  unto  good  works,  he  who 
abounds  in  such  works,  learns  by  experi- 
ence the  true  meaning  of  Scripture ;  and 
what  knowledge  is  equal  to  that  gained  by 
experience  ? 


DOING   GOOD.  125 

Besides,  he  who  pursues  a  hfe  of  benefi- 
cence, is  constantly  obeying  the  truth ;  and 
of  all  modes  of  inculcating  truth  on  the 
heart,  obedience  to  it  is  the  most  effica- 
cious. It  is,  as  it  were,  an  impersonation 
of  truth,  giving  it  a  shape  and  a  body, 
which,  better  than  any  sermon,  shows  what 
it  is ;  and  being  done  by  the  man  himself, 
it  being  his  own  action,  that  truth  manifests 
itself  by,  who  has  equal  advantages  for  un- 
derstanding and  feeling  it?  Such  a  man 
is  all  the  while  preaching  to  himself,  and 
preaching  with  a  power  which  an  angel's 
tongue  might  not  be  able  to  exert.  —  And 
he  stands  before  all  others,  too,  in  the  ex- 
ercise and  benefit  of  prayer.  His  daily 
consideration  of  the  state  of  the  world,  his 
personal  intercourse  with  human  want  and 
wretchedness,  gives  him  constantly  new 
matter  for  prayer,  makes  him  particular 
and  minute  in  his  requests,  and  sincere 
and  importunate  in  his  manner  of  prefer- 
ring them ;  and  his  seasons  of  devotion, 
11* 


126  RELIGION   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

instead  of  being  passed  in  supplications 
about  his  own  wants  and  comforts,  and 
these  perhaps,  for  the  most  part,  perfunc- 
tory and  insincere,  are  Uke  those  of  Christ 
and  the  first  Christians,  which  we  read  of 
in  the  Gospel  and  in  the  Acts,  Time  forbids 
that  we  should  pursue  this  amplification. 
Enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  it  is 
not  in  the  slill  and  shady  recess,  but  abroad 
in  the  habitations  of  men,  in  the  haunts  of 
misery  and  guilt,  amidst  privations  and 
sufferings,  not  self-inflicted,  but  incurred 
in  doing  good,  that  the  formative  influences 
exert  themselves,  which  make  Christians 
after  the  pattern  and  standard  of  the  prim- 
itive times.  Who  can  think  that  such  a 
character  as  that  of  Paul  or  John,  or  the 
Blessed  Jesus,  the  true  exemplar  of  all  who 
bear  his  name,  might  have  been  formed 
any  otherwise,  than  amidst  eflTorts  and  suf- 
ferings for  the  good  of  mankind?  There 
are  in  our  day  a  Gutzlaft"  and  a  few  names 
more,  of  great  hearted  Christians  ;  and  in 


DOING  GOOD.  127 

what  circumstances  have  these  persons  ac- 
quired their  unwonted  conformity  to  their 
Lord  ?  Let  us  give  good  heed  to  the  an- 
swer :  "  In  labours  more  abundant ;  in 
journeyings  often  ;  in  perils  of  waters  ;  in 
perils  of  robbers ;  in  perils  by  the  heathen  ; 
in  perils  in  the  wilderness ;  in  perils  in 
the  sea ;  in  weariness  and  painfulness  ;  in 
watchings  often ;  in  hunger  and  thirst ;  in 
cold  and  nakedness."  Never  did,  never 
can,  a  life  of  contemplation  make  such  men 
as  Gutzlaff,  and  Martyn,  and  Brainerd. 
We  shall  lament  in  vain  over  the  imperfec- 
tions in  Christian  character,  while  Chris- 
tians content  themselves  with  their  present 
style  and  standard  of  living.  All  our  cen- 
sures and  complaints ;  all  our  lectures  on 
prayer  and  fasting  ;  all  our  associations  for 
spiritual  improvement;  all  our  measures 
and  contrivances  of  reform,  will  be  in  vain, 
until  Christians  can  be  induced  to  rise  out 
of  the  dust  of  a  self-seeking,  and  self-in- 
dulgent way  of  life,  put  on  the  garments 


12S  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

of  love,  and  make  works  of  active  goodness 
their  business  under  the  sun. 

IX.  We  might  omit  to  mention,  as  an 
argument  to  a  hfe  of  beneficence,  that  it  is 
of  all  lives  the  happiest,  if  we  merely  had 
respect  to  the  happiness  which  Christians 
themselves  would  find  in  this  way  of  living. 
But  there  is  a  vastly  higher  reason  why  this 
consideration  should  be  urged.  Christi- 
anity will  not  triumph  while  Christians  in- 
dividually and  collectively  remain  as  they 
are,  and  since  the  primitive  times,  have 
been,  in  respect  to  happiness.  Christianity 
in  document  is  peace,  joy,  blessedness 
itself;  need  we  say  what  for  the  most  part 
Christianity  is,  and  has  been  in  this  respect, 
in  the  lives  of  its  professors  ?  So  long  as 
the  world  shall  see  Christians  disquieted 
in  spirit ;  corroded  by  earthly  cares ;  at 
variance  among  themselves  ;  harassed  by 
misgivings  and  fears  respecting  their  own 
salvation,  and  apparently  finding  httle  or 
no  pleasure  in  the  services  of  their  religion 


DOING    GOOD.  129 

and  the  promises  and  prospects  which  it 
sets  before  them  —  so  long  as  the  Christian 
church  presents  such  a  spectacle  to  the 
world,  its  testimony  and  its  labours  in  be- 
half of  Christianity,  will  be  of  small  avail. 
The  reason  lies  deep  in  the  nature  of  man. 
As  the  unhappiness  of  Christians  arises 
from  the  faintness  and  indefiniteness  of  the 
divine  image  in  themselves,  and  as  this 
proceeds  from  their  not  exercising  the 
grace  given  them,  in  courses  of  beneficent 
action,  a  life  of  beneficence  would  cure 
the  evil.  It  would  abolish  the  eftect  by 
removing  the  cause.  It  would  fill  Chris- 
tians with  the  peace  of  God,  by  nourishing 
and  strenfftheninff  the  life  of  God  in  their 
souls.  But  it  would  contribute  to  their 
happiness  also,  in  a  more  direct  manner. 
There  is  often  unspeakable  joy  in  the  mere 
exercise  of  the  beneficent  principle.  It  is 
more  blessed,  many  times,  to  give  than  to 
receive,  in  the  very  act  itself  of  giving. 
But  it  is  the  fruit  of  the  action  that  yields 


130  RELIGION   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

the  greatest  blessedness.  He  who  per- 
forms a  work  of  true  benevolence,  opens 
for  himself  a  fountain  of  pure  joy,  which 
will  continue  to  flow  when  the  heavens  and 
the  earth  are  no  more.  Even  if  the  work 
be  eventually  unavailing  to  him  or  them  for 
whom  it  was  done,  it  will  not  be  so  to  the 
doer.  God's  word  and  power,  are  the  se- 
curity that  he  shall  be  blessed,  and  blessed 
forever  in  his  deed.  What  delight  must 
this  consideration  of  itself  give  to  the  man 
who  lives  only  to  do  good  ?  He  has,  how- 
ever, other  sources  of  joy.  His  beneficence 
is  not  in  vain  in  respect  to  the  objects  of 
it.  God  is  with  the  man  who  gives  him- 
self to  works  of  goodness,  and  adds  to 
those  works,  an  effectual  blessing.  And 
what  joy  can  be  compared  to  his,  who,  as 
he  works,  finds  almighty  goodness  work- 
ing with  him,  and  giving  him  success ;  the 
hearts  of  widows  and  orphans  singing  for 
joy ;  the  disconsolate  comforted  ;  the  bro- 
ken-hearted healed ;    poor  and   degraded 


DOING    GOOD.  131 

families  raised  to  respectability  and  peace  5 
captives  and  prisoners  rejoicing  in  their 
chains,  if  not  delivered  from  them ;  the 
dead  made  alive  again  ;  the  lost  found ;  is 
it  possible  for  the  human  mind  to  know  joy 
like  his,  whom  God  makes  the  means  of 
results  like  these  ?  The  great  German 
astronomer  had  a  strange  ecstasy  of  delight, 
after  making  his  celebrated  discovery  :  — 
*'  Eighteen  months  ago,"  said  he,  *'  I  saw 
the  first  ray  of  light,  three  months  since  I 
saw  the  day  ;  a  few  days  ago,  I  saw  the 
sun  himself,  of  most  admirable  beauty. 
Nothing  can  restrain  me.  I  yield  to  the 
sacred  frenzy.  I  dare  ingenuously  confess 
that  I  have  stolen  the  golden  vessels  of  the 
Egyptians,  (alluding  to  the  ideas  of  Ptolemy 
on  the  same  subject,)  and  I  will  build  of 
them  a  tabernacle  to  my  God.  If  you 
pardon  me,  I  rejoice ;  if  you  reproach  me, 
I  can  endure  it ;  the  die  is  thrown,  I  write 
a  book  to  be  read,  whether  by  the  present 
or  by  future  ages,  it  matters  not.     It  can 


132 


RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 


wait  for  a  reader  a  century,  if  God  himself 
waited  six  thousand  years  for  an  observer  of 
his  works  :"  —  A  most  remarkable  instance 
of  pleasure  in  intellectual  pursuits.  But 
yet  a  mere  flash,  and  of  an  inferior  kind, 
compared  with  the  pleasures  of  beneficence. 
Those  pleasures  are  of  a  celestial  refine- 
ment, and  endure,  and  increase,  until  they 
become  an  ocean  of  eternal  joy. 

X.  We  will  terminate  these  remarks 
with  a  single  suggestion  more.  He  only 
lives  for  eternity  who  lives  a  life  of  benef- 
cence.  Other  men  may  obtain  perhaps 
the  pardon  of  their  sins,  may  themselves 
be  saved,  as  it  were  by  fire,  while  their 
works  are  burnt  up.  The  man  of  active 
goodness  and  he  alone,  is  using  his  present 
faculties  and  possessions,  so  as  to  make 
them  positively  productive  to  himself  in 
the  end.  The  provision  which  men  make 
for  the  flesh  to  fulfil  the  lusts  thereof;  their 
efforts  to  raise  themselves  in  worldly  so- 
ciety, to  become  great  and  renowned,  and 


DOING   GOOD.  133 

to  lay  up  treasures  on  earth ;  their  very 
meditations  and  prayers,  which  are  not  the 
fruit  of  the  beneficent  principle,  transmit 
no  good  influences,  as  far  as  themselves  are 
concerned,  beyond  the  grave.  The  results 
of  all  other  human  doings,  as  to  their  au- 
thors at  least,  either  terminate  with  the 
brief  day  of  this  life,  or  follow  them  into 
eternity  as  sources  of  pain.  All,  all  is 
gone,  as  to  their  authors,  when  their  au- 
thors themselves  pass  away  hence.  What, 
as  to  their  authors  are  all  the  great  acqui- 
sitions and  achievements  of  the  mighty 
dead,  who  did  not  spend  life  in  doing  good  ? 
The  great  writers  of  ancient  and  modern 
times  ;  the  Homers,  the  Maros,  the  Tul- 
lys,  the  Shakspeares,  the  Miltons,  the  Ba- 
cons, what  as  to  them,  except  in  so  far  as 
doing  good  was  their  business,  are  the 
products  of  their  genius  and  labour?  They 
are  gone  where  their  splendid  or  profound 
performances  can  avail  ihem  nothing.  Their 
works  have  not  followed,  and  never  will 
12 


134  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

follow  them.  Soon  also  their  works  them- 
selves will  perish.  Who  then  in  sober 
truth  is  now  living  wisely  for  himself? 
Who  is  the  prudent  man,  that  foreseeth 
the  evil  and  liideth  himself/  Who  is  lay- 
ing up  for  himself  a  good  foundation  against 
the  time  to  come  ?  Who  is  it  that  with 
any  self-consistency,  can  censure  the  spend- 
thrift, the  reckless  profligate,  as  a  waster 
of  time  and  strength  and  substance  ?  Is 
man  truly  an  immortal  being  ?  Is  there 
another  life,  and  a  judgement  after  death? 
Is  there  truth  in  the  Bible  ?  Is  the  reli- 
gion of  Christ  no  fable  ?  That  is  the  ques- 
tion on  which  this  argument  turns:  Give 
that  question  an  affirmative  answer;  and 
all,  all  are  wasters,  —  wasters  of  whatever 
they  are,  or  have,  —  who  are  not  using  what- 
ever they  have  and  are,  so  as  to  glorify 
God  by  doing  good  to  man. 

It  is  not  impossible  that  some  will  deem 
the  strain  of  these  remarks  high  wrought 


DOING  GOOD. 


135 


and  visionary,  —  the  fruit  of  ardour  rather 
than  intelHgence,  of  enthusiasm  more  than 
good  sense.  To  those  who  are  disposed 
to  think  thus,  we  would  observe,  that 
though  it  would  doubtless  be  as  unavailing 
as  it  would  be  unbecoming  in  us  to  say 
a  word  in  vindication  of  our  own  sobriety 
of  mind  in  this  discourse,  we  have  certainly 
a  right  to  expect  that  our  readers  will  show 
themselves  sober-minded  in  judging  of  the 
considerations  which  have  been  set  before 
them.  We  have  a  right  to  request,  and  do 
respectfully  and  earnestly  request,  that  they 
review  these  considerations  one  by  one, 
and  specify  which  should  be  discarded  as 
defective  in  lo";ic  or  in  strength,  and  where- 
in  thus  defective.  Or,  if  they  prefer  doing 
so,  let  them  take  the  sum  and  conclusion 
of  the  whole,  our  main  position,  and 
set  it  aside,  if  it  can  be  done,  by  con- 
clusive counter-evidence  ;  or  at  least  let 
them  adduce  against  it,  one  definitely 
expressed  objection.      Let  them  mention 


136  RELIGION   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

one  good  reason  why  the  Ufe  of  Christ  and 
the  hves  of  his  followers  should  not  be  alike 
stamped,  in  their  respective  measures,  with 
active  beneficence.  This  surely  they  are 
not  unreasonably  requested  to  do,  before 
they  discard  the  subject  on  the  pretext, 
that  there  is  more  of  heat  in  it  than  light, 
more  of  passion  than  judgement.  —  This, 
however,  they  know  they  cannot  do.  They 
may  object  to  the  position  on  other  grounds ; 
on  the  ground  that  it  makes  true  practical 
Christianity  a  rare  thing  in  this  world ;  on 
the  ground  that  it  implicates  the  church  in 
deep  guilt  and  reproach  ;  on  the  ground 
that  it  casts  a  gloomy  shade  over  their 
own  hopes  and  prospects  for  eternity;  but 
not  on  the  ground  that  it  is  not  sufficiently 
fortified  by  evidence,  or  demonstrably  true. 
They  may  dislike,  but  they  cannot  disprove 
it.  It  is  the  doctrine  not  of  man,  but  of 
Jesus  Christ.  They  contend,  not  with 
the  sentiment  of  an  individual,  or  a  sect, 
but  with  that  only  true  and  safe  religion 


DOING  GOOD.  137 

which  the  Son  of  God  came  down  from  heav- 
en, hved  and  died  to  propagate  among  men. 
If  the  reader  has  had  the  impression 
during  the  process  of  these  remarks,  that 
however  incontrovertible  and  important 
their  main  position,  the  task  of  enforcing  it 
was  injudiciously  undertaken,  as  being  well 
nigh  hopeless.  Let  us  say,  that  we  are  not 
unapprized  that  there  are  apparently  strong 
reasons  for  the  impression  he  has  felt. 
We  have  indeed  asked  ourselves  the  ques- 
tion. Will  a  single  man  be  persuaded  by 
any  thing  we  can  say,  to  make  Christ's  life 
on  earth  the  model  of  his  own  ?  It  has  not 
been  thought  necessary  to  do  this  in  order 
to  be  a  Christian  ;  it  is  in  fact  done  by  al- 
most no  one;  a  very  different  notion  of 
practical  Christianity  has  been  common; 
and  whose  mind  will  be  changed  by  our  re- 
marks on  this  subject?  But  we  could  not 
refrain,  on  the  other  hand,  from  asking 
ourselves  also  questions  such  as  these : 
Is  not  Christianity  destined  to  triumph  ? 
12* 


138  RELIGION   OF   THE    BIBLE. 

Are  the  irreligion  and  idolatry  of  man- 
kind to  be  always  so  nearly  universal  ? 
Shall  the  church  always  pray  to  no  pur- 
pose, —  Thy  kingdom  come,  thy  will  he 
done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven  ?  But 
by  what  means  shall  this  prayer  be  an- 
swered ?  Will  it  be  done  by  miracles  ? 
Will  it  be  done  by  philosophy  and  specu- 
lation and  writing  ?  Will  it  be  done  by 
controversy  and  contention,  and  by  multi- 
plying secessions  and  sects?  Will  it  be 
done  by  religion  in  creeds  and  on  parch- 
ment, however  widely  diffused  ?  Will  even 
preaching  do  it,  if  the  doctrine  of  Christ  be 
not  illustrated  by  a  correspondent  life  on 
the  part  of  his  disciples  ?  Is  it  not  the 
persuasion  of  all  who  earnestly  expect 
the  conversion  of  the  world,  that  a  great 
change,  a  change  adapted  to  arrest  general 
attention,  and  produce  general  conviction, 
will  take  place  in  the  common  way  of  living 
among  Christians  ?  Are  not  some  already 
anticipating  such  a  change  ?    Has  not  prep- 


DOING    GOOD.  139 

aration  been  made  for  its  commencement  ? 
Nay,  are  there  not  indications  that  its  com- 
mencement is  about  taking  place  ?  Should 
we  then  be  faithless  on  this  subject,  or  be- 
lieving ?  Is  not  God  in  the  midst  of  his 
people  with  the  residue  of  his  Spirit?  Is 
he  not  able  to  reach  and  enlarge  their 
hearts  ?  Can  he  not  fill  them  with  faith 
and  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  once  he  did  ?  Can 
he  not,  as  once  he  did,  make  them  epistles 
of  Christ,  and  send  them  abroad  every 
where  to  shed  living  light,  and  lift  up  their 
living  voices,  amidst  benighted  and  dying 
men?  Why  should  we  be  despondent? 
Away,  our  unbelieving  fears  !  Let  us  lift 
high  the  standard  of  Christian  living,  and 
summon  all  professed  Christians  with  a  bold 
and  strong  voice  to  conform  their  lives  to 
it.  Wc  have  their  principles,  their  con- 
science, their  covenant  with  us.  We  have 
their  God  and  their  Saviour  on  our  side. 
Let  us  then  affectionately  tell  them  the 
truth.     Let  us  rebuke  their  conformity  to 


140  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

the  M^orld,  witli  all  the  love,  but  also  with 
all  the  pungency  which  we  can  command. 
While  they  enjoy,  as  they  have  a  right  to 
do,  their  ceiled  houses,  their  domestic  de- 
lights, their  honours,  and  their  other  good 
and  pleasant  things,  let  us  not  refrain  to 
remind  them  of  their  relations  to  him  who 
had  not  where  to  lay  his  head  ;  and  to  the 
world  around  them  lying  in  sin  and  ruin ; 
and  of  their  solemn  engagements  and  vows 
to  follow  the  footsteps  of  their  Lord,  and  to 
hve  and  die  as  he  did  for  the  salvation  of 
mankind. 

Finally,  if  the  reader  should  admit  his 
obligation  and  his  responsibility,  but  deny 
his  power  to  live  as  Christ  did  among  men, 
we  would  ask  him  to  consider  what  he 
means  by  this  denial.  —  If  by  a  deficiency 
in  power  he  intends  a  deficiency  in  himself 
apart  from,  and  independently  of  Christ, 
let  him  retain  and  cherish  this  conviction ; 
but  let  him  not  rest  upon  it  as  a  sufficient 
excuse.      He  is  not  required  to  enter  on 


DOING  GOOD.  141 

the  course  set  before  him,  relying  solely,  or 
relying  at  all,  upon  himself.  On  the  con- 
trary, he  is  in  the  strongest  terms  warned 
against  doing  so  :  —  "  Cursed  be  the  man 
who  trusteth  in  man,  and  maketh  flesh  his 
arm."  The  only  resources  on  which  he  is 
called  to  depend,  are  the  infinite  resources 
of  grace  in  Jesus  Christ.  Does  he  mean 
to  say  that  these  are  not  adequate  ?  If 
this  be  not  his  meaning,  let  him  abandon 
his  plea,  and  confess  himself,  in  respect  to 
power,  as  well  as  wisdom  and  righteousness, 
complete  in  Christ ;  and  being  thus  com- 
plete, let  him  forthwith  exercise  himself  in 
the  strength  of  God  his  Saviour,  to  exem- 
plify his  Saviour's  spirit  in  a  life  of  active 
beneficence.  Let  him  do  this,  or  show 
what  right  he  has  to  assume  the  name,  or 
indulge  the  hope  of  a  Christian. 


CO-OPERATION  WITH  GOD. 


Exertions  for  extending  the  gospel  among 
mankind  have  been  steadily  increasing  for 
more  than  thirty  years  ;  but  the  conversion 
of  the  world  still  lingers,  and  the  souls  of 
men  at  the  rate  of  twenty  millions  a  year, 
pass  to  their  eternal  doom  without  the 
knowledge  of  a  Saviour.  To  resolve  this 
appalling  fact  into  the  sovereignty  of  God, 
no  more  exempts  Christians  from  respon- 
sibility for  it,  than  the  same  short  way  of 
explaining  all  the  miseries  of  time  and  eter- 
nity, exculpates  those  accountable  agents 
whose  voluntary  conduct  is  the  procuring 


CO-OPERATION   WITH   GOD.  143 

cause  of  those  infinite  evils.  God  governs 
his  moral  kingdom,  not  by  direct  interpo- 
sitions, or  isolated  acts  of  power,  but  by  fixed 
principles  or  rules  of  conduct,  obedience  or 
disobedience  to  which,  is  optional  to  the  sub- 
jects of  his  empire,  and  the  consequences  of 
obeying  or  disobeying  which,  are  not  ordi- 
narily precluded,  by  deviation,  on  his  own 
part,  from  his  stated  mode  of  administration. 
Hence  impenitent  transgressors  "eat  of 
the  fruit  of  their  own  way ;"  and  hence 
also,  the  just  results  of  negligence  and 
unfaithfulness  on  the  part  of  Christians, 
however  disastrous,  usually  come  to  pass. 
When  men,  by  refusing  to  observe  the  un- 
changeable ordinances  of  infinite  wisdom 
and  goodness,  bring  ruin  upon  themselves 
or  others,  what  propriety  or  relief  is  there 
in  referring  the  natural  eflfects  of  their  in- 
excusable disregard  of  duty,  to  the  sover- 
eign pleasure  of  God  ?  God  does  indeed 
sit  in  the  heavens,  enthroned  over  crea- 
tion.    His    foreknowledge,   his    counsels, 


144  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

and  his  plan,  comprehend  all  his  own  works, 
and  those  also  of  his  creatures  ;  yet  not 
so  as  to  interfere  either  with  the  freedom 
and  responsibleness  of  his  creatures,  or 
with  equitable  variations  in  his  own  distri- 
butions of  reward  and  punishment,  of  co- 
operative or  corrective  power,  according 
as  the  conduct  of  his  creatures  may  de- 
mand the  one  or  the  other.  The  times 
and  the  seasons  God  reserves  in  his  own 
power ;  and  because  he  is  infinitely  wise 
and  good  he  will  do  nothing,  whether  in 
judgement  or  mercy,  out  of  time  ;  yet  this 
does  not  hinder,  but  that  if  his  creatures 
would  fall  in  with  his  provisions  and  com- 
mands, he  would  take  a  very  different  course 
in  his  providential  dispensations  from  that 
which,  on  the  whole,  it  becomes  best  for 
him  to  pursue,  owing  to  human  perverse- 
ness  and  disobedience.  God  would  not 
employ  himself  in  sweeping  the  world  from 
age  to  age  with  the  besom  of  destruction ; 
he  would  not  delay  for  thousands  of  years 


CO-OPERATION   WITH   GOD. 


145 


those  promised  effusions  of  his  Spirit  which 
are  to  send  peace  as  a  river,  and  righteous- 
ness as  the  waves  of  the  sea,  over  the  face 
of  the  whole  earth,  if  he  were  not,  so  to 
speak,  laid  under  a  necessity  to  do  this,  by 
the  refusal  of  his  people  to  hearken  to  his 
commandments. 

Christians  have  not  been  ignorant  of  God's 
arrangement  for  converting  the  world .  They 
have  known  that  the  settled  plan  of  Heaven 
respecting  this  great  work,  demands,  that 
the  knowledge  of  the  gospel  be  universally 
diffused,  that  it  be  diffused  by  Preaching, 
and  that  Preachers  are  eminently  the  gift  of 
God,  and  are  to  he  obtained  from  him  by 
PRAYER.  That  these  are  fixed  principles  of 
the  divine  government  in  reference  to  this 
matter,  is  as  well  known  in  the  Christian 
church,  as  any  doctrine  or  precept  of 
Christianity.  Such  has  been,  such  is,  and 
such  will  be  the  divine  order  in  this  case. 
God  is  a  rock  ;  his  work  is  perfect.  He 
does  not  revoke,  he  does  not  relinquish 
13 


146  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

what  he  has  once  announced  as  his  estab- 
lished rule  of  operations,  in  any  depart- 
ment of  his  dominion.  Christians  know 
that  his  plan  for  evangelizing  the  world, 
requires  them  to  seek  the  needed  supply  of 
preachers  by  prayer  ;  they  know,  but  they 
have  most  imperfectly  fulfilled  what  it  re- 
quires at  their  hands.  The  natural  conse- 
quences of  their  neglect  have  not  been  hin- 
dered. For  almost  eighteen  hundred  years 
mankind  have  been  going  without  holiness, 
and  of  course,  without  hope,  to  eternity,  at 
an  average  of  not  less  than  twenty  millions 
a  year.  Only  the  mind  that  fills  eternity, 
comprehends  the  evil  involved  in  such  a 
result;  yet  the  tremendous  result  has  fol- 
lowed, and  will  continue  to  follow,  while 
Christians  refrain  from  falling  in  with  the 
divine  arrangement.  It  cannot  but  be,  that 
God  regards  this  immense  evil,  with  just 
such  emotions  as  perfect  knowledge  of  it, 
is  adapted  to  produce  in  a  perfectly  benevo- 
lent mind ;  but  still,  in  infinite  goodness, 


CO-OPERATION   WITH   GOD.  147 

he  permits  it,  since  worse  than  even  this 
evil,  would  be  any  deviation  from  the  order, 
which  with  his  eye  open  upon  all  the  secrets 
of  futurity,  he  thought  proper  to  adopt. 
This  is  not  a  subject  for  speculation  ;  it  is 
no  more  to  be  disputed  than  that  God  is  a 
truly  benevolent  being.  As  well  call  in 
question  the  reality  of  the  past  or  the  pre- 
sent, as  this  affirmation.  It  is  the  affirmation 
of  a  fact,  and  a  fact  which  to  every  Chris- 
tian should  be  a  principle  of  life.  We 
ought  not  stand  wondering  why  G^d  has 
adopted  such  a  plan,  or  scrutinizing  into 
the  secret  reasons  of  the  divine  determina- 
tion, or  giving  heed  to  any  suggestion  of 
an  evil  heart  of  unbelief;  but  take  to  our- 
selves the  reproach  of  past  delinquency, 
and  coincide  forthwith  and  forever,  with 
the  unchangeable  counsel  and  purpose  of 
the  Most  High.  As  soon  should  we  attempt 
to  arrest  the  course  of  nature,  or  contend 
with  the  elements,  or  evade  the  conse- 
quences of  rushing  into  the  fire,  or  plunging 


148  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

in  the  sea,  as  doubt  the  goodness  of  God's 
moral  enactments,  or  hope  to  avert  the 
penalty  of  resisting  them. 

Not  that  we  are  required  to  be  submis- 
sive, even  in  such  high  cases,  to  mere  ar- 
bitrary power.  "  We  are  not  to  think 
the  matter  determined  as  it  is,  in  all  such 
cases,  by  mere  will  and  pleasure,  without 
a  reason;  which  were  an  imagination  al- 
together unworthy  the  supreme  wisdom : 
but  that  there  are  reasons  of  mighty  force 
and  weight ;  or  certain  congruities,  in  the 
nature  of  things  themselves,  obvious  to  the 
divineunderstanding,which  do  either  wholly 
escape  ours,  or  whereof  we  have  but  very 
shallow,  dark,  conjectural  apprehensions; 
as  he  that  saw  men  as  trees ;  or  as  some 
creatures  of  very  acute  sight  perceive  what 
to  us  seems  invisible.  And  yet  these  occult 
and  hidden  reasons  and  congruities,  have 
been  the  foundation  of  constitutions  and 
laws  that  hold  things  more  steadily  than 
adamantine  bands,  and  are  of  more  stability 


CO-OPERATION   WITH   GOD.  149 

than  the  foundations  of  Heaven  and  earth."* 
The  submission  demanded  is  but  an  exer- 
cise of  confidence  in  infinite  wisdom  and 
goodness. 

We  are  most  impressively  instructed  as 
to  our  duty  in  this  matter,  by  a  passage  in 
the  hfe  of  our  Saviour.  When  on  a  certain 
occasion  he  lifted  up  his  eyes  on  the  multi- 
tudes around  him,  it  is  said,  he  was  moved 
with  compassion  on  them,  because  they 
fainted  and  were  scattered  abroad  as  sheep 
having  no  shepherd.  The  compassion  of 
Him  who  came  down  from  Heaven  to  die 
for  a  lost  world,  was  not  a  feeble  principle, 
and  it  was  not  now  without  its  appropriate 
manifestations.  Yet  what  steps  did  he  take 
for  the  relief  of  perishing  men,  destitute  of 
all  means  of  salvation  ?  He  could  easily 
have  supplied  the  requisite  means,  by  a 
direct  exertion  of  almighty  power.  He  at 
whose  bidding  the  worlds  arose  out  of  noth- 
ing, could  have  done  this  ;  but  an  arrange- 

*  Howe. 

13* 


150  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

ment  respecting  all  such  cases,  had  been 
adopted  by  the  divine  will,  and  his  compas- 
sion, though  large  and  mighty  as  his  infinite 
mind,  was  in  absolute  subserviency  to  that 
arrangement.  He  would  not  indulge  that 
compassion,  by  departing  from  the  divinely 
appointed  way  of  obtaining  the  means  of 
grace.  He  could  have  died  for  these  mul- 
titudes ;  he  did  in  fact  die  for  them,  but 
though  for  their  sakes  he  did  not  count  his 
life  dear  to  himself,  he  would  not  violate 
the  order  of  God's  moral  kingdom.  He 
turned  to  his  disciples,  and  devolved  upon 
them  the  responsibility  of  procuring  hj  their 
prayers,  what  the  exigencies  of  these  men, 
and  of  countless  thousands  in  no  better 
condition,  so  urgently  required :  The  har- 
vest, he  said,  is  plenteous,  but  the  labourers 
are  few  ;  pray  ye  therefore  the  Lord  of  the 
harvest,  that  he  will  send  forth  labourers 
into  his  harvest. 

And  this  was  but  one  exemplification  of  a 
principle  which  uniformly  controlled  the 


CO-OPERATION    WITH   GOD. 


151 


conduct  of  our  Lord.  He  would  work  no  mir- 
acle, he  would  in  no  way  interfere  with  any 
principle  of  the  divine  government,  to  re- 
lieve his  own  necessities  however  extreme. 
Stones  would  have  become  bread  at  his 
command,  but  though  he  had  been  forty 
days  without  food,  he  preferred  a  continued 
endurance  of  hunger,  to  employing  any  mode 
of  removing  it,  not  coincident  with  the  ap- 
pointed provisions  of  the  divine  goodness. 
The  amazing  sorrows  of  his  last  hours  were, 
with  distinct  knowledge  of  them  all,  prefer- 
red by  him,  to  the  slightest  infringement  of 
the  divine  economy  concerning  himself: 
Not  my  will,  but  thine  he  done.  What  les- 
son was  ever  so  enforced,  as  that  nothing 
is  so  much  to  be  deprecated  as  setting 
aside  the  established  order  of  the  divine 
proceedings  ?  How  unreasonable  has  been 
the  hope  of  Christians,  that  God  would 
supply  the  necessary  number  of  the  heralds 
of  salvation,  or  prevent  the  natural  conse- 
quences of  a  deficiency,  when  because  of 


152  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

their  criminal  omission  to  comply  with  his 
requisition,  he  could  not  have  done  so, 
without  abandoning  a  procedure  approved 
by  infinite  wisdom  and  goodness,  and  pub- 
lished as  a  fixed  principle  of  his  adminis- 
tration ? 

Important  as  are  the  reformations  which 
have  taken  place  in  the  church,  little  in  the 
way  of  improvement  has  been  effected, 
compared  to  what  remains  to  be  done. 
What  enlightened  spiritual  man  would  not, 
in  the  midst  of  all  the  favourable  changes 
and  advances  of  these  times,  hail  with  ex- 
ceeding great  joy,  the  dawn  of  the  era  for 
the  fulfilment  of  that  saying,  "  Behold,  I 
make  all  things  new  ?"  Even  what  has  been 
reformed  needs  reformation  still.  O  for 
a  radical  reform  in  the  feelings  of  Chris- 
tians in  respect  to  their  personal  obligations 
and  responsibilities,  particularly  as  touch- 
ing the  present  subject.  If  the  results  of 
faithfulness  on  their  part  would  have  met 
completely  the  wants  of  mankind,  the  defi- 


CO-OPERATION   WITH   GOD.  153 

ciency  both  in  the  character  and  the  num- 
ber of  the  ministry,  from  age  to  age,  meas- 
ures, from  age  to  age,  the  extent  of  their 
unfaithfulness  !  And  then,  what  beings  in 
the  universe  are  so  deeply  involved  in 
blame  as  the  followers  of  Christ  ?  —  This 
view  of  the  subject  gives  impressions  of  the 
general  imperfection  of  Christian  character, 
which  cannot  but  lead  to  the  profoundest 
self-abasement ;  and  it  will  therefore,  it  is 
to  be  feared,  be  generally  unwelcome,  and 
perhaps  be  strenuously  resisted.  But  yet 
it  seems  impossible  to  deny  that  it  is  the 
just  view.  Either  Christians  are  thus  un- 
measurably  in  fault,  or  an  imputation  ap- 
pears evidently  to  rest  on  the  Divine  Cha- 
racter. Let  the  matter  be  closely  investi- 
gated, and  the  just  result  be  laid  to  heart. 
Is  it  not,  in  sober  and  palpable  truth,  a  di- 
rect impeachment  of  God's  self-consistency 
and  sincerity,  to  allege,  that  though  he  has 
sworn  by  himself  that  he  has  no  pleasure 
in  the  death  of  any  man,  though  he  has 


154  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

made  an  atonement  for  human  sin  by  the 
sacrifice  of  his  own  Son,  though  on  the 
basis  of  that  wonderful  atonement  he  has 
required  an  offer  of  salvation  to  be  made 
to  every  creature,  though  he  has  prescribed 
the  means  by  which  that  requirement  is  to 
be  fulfilled,  though  he  has  appointed  the 
prayers  and  sacrifices  of  Christians  as  the 
proper  pre-requisite  to  the  obtainment  and 
operation  of  those  means,  and  finally  though 
he  has  urged  Christians  to  offer  their  pray- 
ers, with  an  earnestness  and  force  of  per- 
suasion which  only  infinite  benevolence 
could  have  prompted,  still,  when  no  diffi- 
culty has  been  in  the  way  on  account  of 
failure  on  the  part  of  Christians,  He  him- 
self has  failed  to  grant  the  necessary  instru- 
mentality, for  the  accomplishment  of  his 
own  great  paramount  design?  Whatever 
reproach  may  be  cast  upon  Christians  by 
adopting  the  opposite  of  this  conclusion, 
hesitation  to  adopt  it  is  manifestly  irrever- 
ence towards  the  great  and  dreadful  God. 


CO-OPERATION   WITH   GOD.  155 

Let  God  be  true,  but  every  man  a  liar. 
The  real  fact  in  this  case  ought  to  be  pro- 
claimed throughout  the  churches,  though 
the  effects  should  be  universal  consterna- 
tion and  despair.  Had  Christians  aspired 
to  the  just  standard  of  their  duty,  the  true 
dignity  of  their  calling,  had  they  complied 
with  the  divine  arrangement  and  thus  ful- 
filled the  indispensable  conditions  of  divine 
wisdom  and  goodness,  that  boundless  com- 
passion of  God  which  spared  not  for  man's 
sake  his  only  begotten  Son,  would  doubt- 
less long  ago  have  supplied  the  world  with 
the  ministry  of  reconciliation,  to  the  need- 
ful extent,  and  filled  it  with  the  light  of  the 
knowledge  of  his  glory. 

Is  it  improper  to  ask,  why  has  not  some- 
thing been  done  to  produce  in  the  Christian 
church  a  just  sense  of  the  fact  and  the  evil 
of  the  delinquency  in  question  ?  Amidst 
all  the  benevolent  operations  and  enterpri- 
ses of  the  age,  has  not  this  delinquency 
been  unlamented,  and  almost  overlooked  ? 


156 


RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 


What  zeal  has  been  shown,  what  bold 
measures  have  been  employed,  to  supply 
what  has  been  wanting  here  ?  What  rous- 
ing appeals  have  been  made,  what  loud 
alarms  have  been  sounded,  what  expensive 
agencies  have  been  sustained,  what  mighty 
eloquence  has  lifted  up  its  thundering  voice, 
throughout  the  Christian  world,  in  order 
to  av/aken  attention  to  this  prime  defect ; 
to  overwhelm  the  public  mind  with  a  sense 
of  its  true  enormity ;  and  to  effect  a  reforma- 
tion at  this  deep  seat  of  evil  —  a  reformation 
which  would  have  almost  superseded  the 
necessity  of  further  reforming  efforts  ?  An 
excitement  by  such  means  has  been  pro- 
duced in  favour  of  many  benevolent  de- 
signs, the  results  of  which  may  be  partially 
seen,  in  our  flourishing  institutions  of  reli- 
gion and  learning,  and  our  various  projects 
for  human  improvement;  but  is  there  not 
cause  to  fear,  from  our  unrebuked  uncon- 
sciousness of  dependence  on  God,  and  our 
allowed  negligence  in  calling  on  the  Lord 


CO-OrERATION    WITH    GOD.  157 

of  the  harvest  himself,  to  send  forth  labour- 
ers into  his  harvest,  that  these  institutions 
and  projects  rather  than  his  own  almighty 
arm,  are  our  chief  reliance  for  the  accom- 
phshment  of  the  great  object  of  desire? 

It  is  hoped  that  it  will  not  be  thought 
amiss,  to  inquire  further,  whether  our  small 
success  does  not  also  indicate  on  what 
ground  our  hopes  are  mainly  resting  ?  Our 
success,  it  is  true,  would  be  an  ample  re- 
ward for  ten  thousand  times  more  labour 
than  we  have  bestowed,  and  our  praises 
should  ascend  to  God  evermore,  for  what 
he  hath  graciously  wrought  by  our  means ; 
but  still  we  cannot  but  see  that  the  work  of 
spreading  the  gospel  comparatively  lingers 
in  our  hands,  and  it  is  high  time  that  we 
had  searched  out  the  reason.  It  is  sea- 
sonable and  meet,  that  we  inquire  among 
ourselves,  and  inquire  of  the  Lord,  why  it 
is,  that  now,  after  Christianity  has  been 
eighteen  centuries  giving  proofs  of  its  di- 
vinity, and  the  civilized  world  owns  its  truth, 
14 


168  RELIGION    OP    THE    BIBLE. 

millions  of  Christians  with  the  mighty  aid 
of  the  press,  and  of  extensive  combinations, 
and  of  a  moral  machinery  scarcely  suscep- 
tible of  improvement,  are  yet,  after  a  lapse 
of  thirty  years,  but  little  more  than  prepar- 
ing to  do,  what  the  first  feeble  disciples  of 
the  cross  in  the  same  period,  under  the 
greatest  outward  disadvantages,  to  a  good 
degree  accomplished."  They  ventured  on 
the  undertaking  amidst  almost  universal 
scorn  and  persecution,  as  Peter,  upon  the 
boisterous  waves,  in  a  dark  and  stormy 
night,  to  go  to  his  master ;  relying  for  suc- 
cess not  on  their  own  resources,  nor  any 
visible  or  assignable  secondary  causes ; 
but  on  the  promised  unseen  supports  of 
the  universal  Preserver  ;  Milling  to  abide 
by  any  issue  which  might  result  from  such 
absohite,  self-renouncing  trust  in  Him. 
They  first  waited  at  the  throne  of  grace, 
in  united,  importunate,  incessant  prayer, 
until  they  were  *'  endued  with  power  from 
on  high,"  and  then,  full  themselves  of  the 


CO-OPERATION    WITH    GOD.  159 

Holy  Ghost  and  of  faith,  they  sought  addi- 
tions to  their  number,  of  men  similarly 
endowed  ;  and  thus  they  advanced  against 
the  powers  of  darkness  in  the  strength 
of  God,  conquering  and  to  conquer,  until 
the  fruits  of  their  meek  and  beneficent  tri- 
umphs overspread  the  face  of  the  world. 
They  depended  both  for  means  and  success 
on  the  Spirit  of  God  ;  and  the  reality  and 
extent  of  their  dependence,  were  proved  by 
a  boldness  and  daringness  and  force  of 
movement,  of  which  self-reliance,  or  the 
countenance  of  princes  and  potentates, 
would  never  have  suggested  the  concep- 
tion. Is  it  uncharitable  to  suspect  that 
the  confidence  which  they  reposed  in  the 
invisible  arm  of  the  Almighty,  is  misplaced 
by  modern  Christians  in  the  power  of  the 
pen  and  the  press,  in  the  patronage  of  the 
rich  and  the  great,  in  our  noble  associations 
of  benevolence,  and  in  the  progress  of  the 
mind  and  of  science  ? 

There  is  at  least  irresistible  proof  that 


160  RELIGION   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

too  little  reliance  is  placed  on  the  immedi- 
ate influences  of  divine  grace.  Here  it 
may  not  be  irrelevant  to  advert  to  the  de- 
gree of  interest  which  is  ordinarily  taken 
in  the  monthly  concert  meeting  for  prayer. 
That  degree  of  interest  is  certainly,  to 
some  extent,  a  decisive  test  of  the  nature 
of  the  impression  existing  in  the  minds  of 
Christians,  in  respect  to  the  utihty  of 
prayer,  in  carrying  forward  the  work  of 
evangelizing  the  world.  The  existence  of 
such  a  concert  shows  that  united  prayer 
is  understood  by  the  church  to  be  one  of 
the  means  which  God  has  designated  for 
the  conversion  of  the  world  ;  but  judging 
from  the  manner  in  which  that  concert  is 
observed  generally  by  Christians,  the  con- 
clusion can  scarcely  be  avoided,  that  it  is 
depended  upon  as  a  means  less  than  almost 
any  other.  The  complaint  has  been  long 
made,  and  hitherto  made  in  vain,  that  there 
is  no  religious  meeting,  statedly  attended 
by  Christians,  which  they  attend  so  reluc- 


CO-OPERATION    WITH    GOD.  161 

tantly,  and  in  such  small  numbers.  What 
a  strange  announcement  this,  concerning  a 
race  of  Christians  who  have  professedly 
undertaken  the  business  of  extending  the 
gospel  through  the  earth  !  If  the  reason 
be  that  ministers  take  but  little  pains  to 
make  the  meeting  interesting  and  profit- 
able, what  is  this  but  additional  proof  of  a 
most  deplorable  insensibility  in  all  con- 
cerned, to  the  efficacy  of  prayer  ?  How 
can  the  inference  be  resisted,  that  in  the 
business  of  saving  men,  prayer  is  really 
deemed  by  Christians  of  but  very  small 
consequence  ?  The  anniversary  of  a  be- 
nevolent society  is  commonly  an  animating 
occasion  :  it  sometimes  draws  together  an 
assembly  which  there  is  no  room  large 
enough  to  accommodate  ;  but  our  meetings 
for  prayer,  and  especially  that  meeting 
which  by  common  consent  of  Christians  of 
almost  every  name,  is  appropriated  exclu- 
sively to  the  business  of  praying  for  the 
world,  are  marked  by  dulness,  and  coldness, 
14* 


162  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

and  gloominess,  and  fewness  of  numbers  ! 
Is  not  this  a  most  afflictive,  most  alarming 
fact,  to  those  who  are  aware  that  not  be- 
nevolent associations  however  important, 
but  the  outpouring  of  the  spirit  of  prayer, 
is  the  appointed  precursor  of  the  millenni- 
um ?  Alas,  may  it  not  be  that  while  we  stand 
rejoicing  at  the  increase  and  strength,  and 
enlarging  operations  of  these  noble  socie- 
ties, the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  may  have  se- 
cretly blown  upon  them  in  his  wrath,  as 
he  did  for  a  like  reason  upon  the  splendid 
temple  and  ritual  service  of  the  Jews,  be- 
cause, they,  rather  than  Himself,  are  de- 
pended on  for  the  salvation  of  the  world  ? 
May  not  all  our  bright  prospects  from  the 
benevolent  character  of  the  age  be  overcast, 
and  another  and  darker  age  of  infidelity 
succeed,  and  the  world  be  afterwards  con- 
verted by  a  generation  of  Christians  who 
hke  those  of  the  primitive  church,  shall  go 
forward  to  the  work,  renouncing  all  trust 
in  an  arm  of  flesh ;  and  with  their  lives  in 


CO-OPERATION    WITH    GOD.  163 

their  hands,  throw  themselves,  in  the  exer- 
cise of  such  boldness  as  led  Peter  to  step 
out  upon  the  angry  waves,  on  the  unseen 
agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  looking  to  that 
agency  by  urgent  and  ceaseless  prayer, 
to  grant  whatever  resources  of  grace,  or 
talent,  or  treasure,  may  be  requisite  for 
the  accomplishment  of  their  high  purpose  ? 
Though  the  remark  may  seem  almost  to 
trespass  on  delicacy,  yet  faithfulness  to  the 
great  interests  of  God  and  man  seems  to 
require  it  to  be  made,  that  another  test  of 
the  spirit  of  the  church  in  reference  to  the 
point  before  us,  is  afforded  by  the  prevail- 
ing measure  of  ministerial  attainment  and 
faithfulness.  It  is  not  to  be  doubted  that 
the  general  character  of  the  ministry,  com- 
pared to  that  of  the  preceding  age,  is  much 
improved  ;  but  still,  if  there  be  a  corres- 
pondence between  the  church's  prayers 
and  endowments  in  this  respect,  her  defi- 
ciency in  the  feeling  of  dependence  on  God 
for  the  supply  of  ministers  of  the  gospel,  is 


164  R.ELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

unquestionably  great.  The  existing  min- 
istry, however  superior,  are  manifestly  far 
below  the  standard  which  the  exigences  of 
these  times  seem  to  hold  forth  to  all  aspi- 
rants for  the  sacred  office.  The  order  of 
ministers  needed  for  the  conversion  of  the 
world,  is  one  formed  exactly  and  in  all  res- 
pects, —  except  inspiration  and  the  power  to 
work  miracles,  —  on  the  apostolical  model. 
The  same  work  substantially  is  to  be  done 
now,  which  was  undertaken  by  the  apostles ; 
and  men  as  full  of  the  strength  and  the 
graces  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  they  were,  are 
apparently  as  indispensable.  It  is  only 
when  the  appropriate  business  of  the  church 
is  misjudged  of,  that  a  doubt  on  this  sub- 
ject can  be  indulged.  If  that  business 
were  to  keep  up  religion  to  the  low  com- 
mon level  to  which  it  has  attained  among 
men,  ministers  of  the  common  stamp  might 
suffice  ;  but  to  pervade  the  immense  wastes 
of  heathenism  with  the  genuine  spirit  and 
influences  of  Christianity,  —  to  have  the 


CO-OPERATION    WITH    GOD. 


165 


gospel  sounded  throughout  the  countries 
of  Europe,  throughout  China,  Hindoostan, 
Burmah,  Persia,  Arabia,  the  coasts  and 
unexplored  recesses  of  Africa,  and  all  the 
forests  of  America,  and  islands  of  the  ocean, 
as  it  is  in  the  most  favoured  parts  of  our  own 
territory,  —  to  achieve  this  end,  men  of  the 
same  spirit  are  wanted,  as  those  who  under 
the  direct  commission  of  Christ,  preached 
the  word  of  salvation  with  the  Holy  Ghost 
sent  down  from  heaven.  Few  such  men, 
however,  are  now  in  the  field.  We  have 
intelligent  men,  and  pious  men,  and  labo- 
rious men  ;  but  the  work  to  be  done  de- 
mands men  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of 
God;  men  like  Paul,  or  Brainerd,  not 
needing,  from  the  abundance  of  the  divine 
communications  to  their  souls,  to  consult 
with  flesh  and  blood ;  nor  to  depend  on 
the  sympathies  of  their  brethren,  but  ready 
always  to  go,  solitarily,  if  need  be,  into  any 
desert  part  of  the  earth,  trusting  for  sup- 
port in  Him  who  feedeth  the  young  ravens 
when  they  cry.     Such  men,  with  few  ex- 


166  KELIGION   OF   THE    BIBLE. 

ceptions,  the  church  has  not  obtained ;  and 
is  it  not  equally  true,  that  such  men  the  church 
has  not  sought  ?  If  with  just  impressions  of 
the  magnitude  of  the  work  to  be  done,  and 
absolute  distrust  in  her  own  capabilities, 
she  had  hfted  her  hands  to  the  Source  of 
all  power  in  heaven  and  earth,  and  by- 
strong  cries  and  supplications,  had  pleaded 
with  Him  for  ministers  of  the  apostohcal 
spirit ;  this  age,  which  so  many  remarkable 
events  and  movements  seem  to  designate 
as  the  set  time  for  the  general  triumph 
of  the  gospel,  would  not,  it  is  probable,  be 
so  much  a  stranger  to  such  ministers.  The 
church,  straitened  in  herself,  has  had  no 
just  views  of  the  immensity  of  her  Lord's 
resources.  Her  faith,  her  desires,  and  her 
expectations  have  been  proportional  to  her 
views.  She  has  appeared  to  be  afraid  of 
excess  in  her  requests,  when  in  fact  she 
has  comparatively  asked  nothing  in  the 
name  of  Christ.  Why  should  she  not  pre- 
pare herself  to  receive  a  ministry  as  large 


CO-OPERATION    WITH    GOD.  167 

as  the  wants  of  man,  and  as  excellent  as 
that  of  the  apostolical  age  ?  Let  it  not  be 
thought  incredible,  that  such  a  ministry 
will  yet  be  seen  on  the  earth.  The  world 
is  to  be  converted,  and  converted  princi- 
pally by  preaching,  and  by  preaching  adapt- 
ed to  accomplish  the  mighty  result ;  but  the 
ears  of  men  will  never  hear  such  preach- 
ing, until  the  primitive  love  of  Christ  and 
of  souls,  the  primitive  self-denial,  the 
primitive  simplicity,  boldness,  gentleness 
and  zeal,  return  to  the  ministry.  How 
slow  is  the  course  of  the  gospel,  for  want 
of  preachers  so  replenished  with  grace,  by 
the  unction  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  We  have 
seen  that  in  the  midst  of  the  unparalleled 
doings  of  these  times,  the  cause  of  salva- 
tion may  remain  almost  at  a  stand  :  nay, 
at  the  very  centre  and  spring  of  action, 
there  sometimes  seems  to  be  a  backward 
movement.  At  best  we  struggle  on,  amidst 
mingled  triumphs  and  defeats,  hopes  and 
fears.     Not  so  advances  the  cause  of  evil, 


168  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

the  work  of  destruction,  among  the  souls 
of  unevangelized  and  unconverted  men. 
Is  there  never  to  be  a  change  ?  Is  there 
no  help,  no  way  to  accelerate  the  work 
of  recovering  mercy  ?  There  is  a  way. 
Let  Zion  awake  and  stir  herself  up  to  take 
hold  of  the  almighty  hand  of  God.  Let 
her  sons  and  daughters  array  themselves 
in  those  shining  garments  of  salvation, 
which  made  first  Christians  the  wonder 
and  the  light  of  the  world ;  and  night  and 
day  let  them  assemble  themselves  together, 
and  also  let  them  often  kneel  down  apart 
and  in  secret,  and  give  the  Hearer  of  pray- 
er no  rest,  until  He  send  forth  a  ministry 
numerous  as  is  wanted,  and  with  qualifica- 
tions such  as  were  granted  at  the  first. 
Here  is  the  "door,"  the  only  door  "of 
hope."  Let  the  heart  and  the  hands,  and 
the  imploring  cries  of  the  church  be  inces- 
santly lifted  up  to  heaven.  Let  our  benevo- 
lent associations  proceed  on  in  their  respect- 
ive spheres  of  effort :  but  let  it  be  ever  and 


CO-OPERATION    WITH    GOD.  169 

vividly  kept  in  mind,  that  all  they  can  do 
is  to  prepare  channels  for  the  streams  of  salva- 
tion to  flow  in  —  channels  to  be  filled  by 
those  outpourings  of  the  Spirit,  which  God 
bestows  in  connexion  with  the  labours  of 
the  living  ministry ;  and  ordinarily,  in  pro- 
portion as  that  ministry  shares  the  appro- 
priate spirit  of  their  sacred  calling.  The 
associations  of  benevolence,  instead  of  di- 
minishing, have  vastly  increased  the  neces- 
sity for  a  ministry  of  the  highest  excel- 
lence. They  have  but  prepared  the  way 
for  the  influence  of  such  a  ministry  to  be 
exerted  to  the  greatest  possible  advanteige. 
They  have  exceedingly  multiplied  argu- 
ments proper  to  be  used  in  prayer  for  such 
a  ministry.  Truly,  if  ever  there  was  a 
period  when  the  whole  Christian  world, 
should  be  down  upon  their  faces  before 
the  throne  of  mercy,  imploring  with  all  the 
importunity,  and  boldness,  and  persever- 
ance of  faith,  a  race  of  ministers,  each  full 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  was  Barnabas  or 
15 


170  r£:ligion  of  the  bible. 

Paul,  that  period  is  the  one  which  is  now 
passing  over  us. 

And  it  is  perhaps  the  brightest  of  all  the 
tokens  for  good  now  in  the  prospect  of  the 
church,  that  God  seems  to  have  undertaken 
to  humble  his  people  before  him  in  such 
supplication.  He  is  manifestly  teaching 
them  by  the  signs  of  the  times,  that  it  is  ex- 
clusively in  his  own  power  to  furnish  the 
ministry  requisite  for  the  evangelization  of 
the  world.  He  is  lifting  up  a  voice  on 
this  subject  which  grows  louder  and  louder 
continually,  as  if  he  meant  that  it  should  at 
last  be  heard.  At  a  time  when  a  general 
excitement  in  respect  to  the  propagation  of 
the  gospel,  unprecedented  since  the  days 
of  the  apostles,  exists  in  the  church  ;  and 
when  means  are  in  operation  with  direct 
reference  to  that  object,  of  unexampled 
number  and  excellence  ;  and  when  the  ge- 
neral condition  of  the  world  favours  its 
accomplishment  as  it  has  never  done  be- 
fore,—  at  this  most  remarkable  juncture, 


CO-OPERATION    WITH    GOD.  171 

overwhelming  evidence  is  given,  that  all 
hope  for  man  must  perish,  if  there  be  not 
by  some  agency  provided,  an  adequate  sup- 
ply of  ministers  of  the  gospel.  Not  from 
one  place  or  another,  but  from  all  quarters 
of  the  earth,  testimony  multiplies  daily, 
that  amidst  the  greatest  possible  facilities 
for  converting  the  world,  a  greatly  increas- 
ed and  more  devoted  ministry  is  indispen- 
sable. This  testimony  comes  to  us,  not 
indeed  as  the  Macedonian  cry  came  to  the 
apostle,  in  a  supernatural  vision  ;  but  in  a 
manner  not  less  affecting  or  decisive  as  to 
its  purport.  It  is  a  real  sound  which  flies 
round  the  land  and  rings  in  our  ears  all  the 
day  long.  Send  us  preachers,  is  the  uni- 
versal, ceaseless  demand  at  home  and 
abroad.  It  comes  from  more  than  a  thou- 
sand of  our  own  destitute  churches ;  it 
comes  from  the  cities,  from  the  wilderness, 
from  the  islands,  from  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  sea,  from  tracts  until  lately  unknown 
to  civilized  man ;  and  what  deserves  spe- 


172 


RELIGION   OF  THE   BIBLE. 


cial  remark,  it  is  echoed  and  urged  with 
chief  earnestness,  by  all  the  benevolent  as- 
sociations :  These,  the  best  of  all  human 
contrivances  for  ameliorating  the  moral 
state  of  man,  are  loudest  in  proclaiming 
the  world's  dependence,  under  God,  on  the 
faithful  labours  of  the  ministry  of  reconcil- 
iation ;  nay,  they  proclaim  their  own  de- 
pendence on  these  labours,  confessing,  in 
terms  which  cannot  be  misunderstood,  that 
their  operations  would  be  fruitless,  and 
must  speedily  terminate,  if  preachers  should 
be  denied  them.  Behold  what  an  attesta- 
tion to  the  unchangeableness  of  the  divine 
arrangement.  "  Forever,  O  Lord,  thy  word 
is  settled  in  heaven.  Thy  faithfulness  is 
unto  all  generations."  Long  ago  it  was 
established,  that  the  ministration  of  the 
gospel  by  the  living  voice  of  preachers, 
should  be  the  instrumental  influence  of  sa- 
ving mankind ;  and  that  ancient  decree  yet 
stands ;  and  God,  in  these  last  days,  hath 
by   his   providence,  given   such  a   signal 


CO-OPERATION   WITH   GOD.  173 

proclamation  of  it  as  a  still  existing  rule 
of  his  empire,  that  it  can  hardly  be  longer 
disregarded.  If  one  thing,  now,  were  done 
by  the  church,  the  redemption  of  the  world 
would  be  at  hand  ;  and  it  will  be  wonder- 
ful indeed  if  it  be  not  done  :  The  cry  for 
ministers  which  sounds  so  loudly  and  so 
complainingly  in  her  own  ears,  should  by 
general  consent  be  turned  into  prayer  and 
sent  up  to  heaven.  And  shall  she  longer 
forbear  to  do  this  ?  Shall  she  stand,  and 
hear  that  unusual  cry,  and  feel  no  inclina- 
tion to  direct  it  to  the  ear  of  Him  from 
whom  alone  help  can  come  ?  She  has  in- 
deed been  trying  some  efforts  of  her  own 
to  meet  the  great  demand  ;  and  surely  she 
ought  to  do  what  she  can  by  personal  sac- 
rifices and  exertions  :  but  is  it  not  surpris- 
ing that  faintness  of  heart  does  not  seize 
her,  while  in  the  midst  of  all  her  labours  in 
this  department,  the  imploring  supphcation 
for  ministerial  help,  still  comes  up  into  her 
ears,  louder  and  louder  every  moment,  from 
15* 


174  RELIGION  OF  THE   BIBLE. 

every  part  of  the  wide  world ;  instructing 
her  that  the  results  of  all  her  endeavours 
are  not  even  as  a  drop  of  the  bucket, 
compared  to  what  the  wants  of  a  dying 
world  require  ?  An  impression  seems  to 
be  extending,  that  sooner  or  later,  a  change 
will  take  place,  in  some  unimaginable  man- 
ner,  by  which  the  great  desideratum  will 
be  supplied;  and  the  church  seems  in 
some  sort  reconciled  to  bear  her  burdens, 
and  continue  her  incompetent  struggles,  as 
she  has  been  wont  to  do,  in  hope  of  that 
extraordinary  intervention  ;  but  will  there 
never  be  an  end  to  her  dulness  of  under- 
standing in  this  matter  ?  While  she  restrains 
prayer  to  God,  should  she  not  utterly  de- 
spair of  an  intervention,  which  as  far  as  can 
be  seen,  cannot  occur  in  the  absence  of 
prayer,  without  contravening  the  settled 
plan  of  infinite  wisdom  ?  An  intervention, 
an  extraordinary  intervention,  is  doubtless 
needful ;  and  such  an  intervention  may  be 
hoped  for,  when  the  appointed  means  of 


CO-OPERATION   WITH   GOD.  175 

obtaining  it  are  employed :  Why  are  not 
those  means  at  this  moment  in  operation  ? 
The  standing  concerts  of  prayer,  ought 
perhaps  to  be  admitted  as  proof,  that  an 
increased  impression  as  to  the  necessity 
for  prayer,  has  of  late  been  made  on  the 
churches.  But  it  is  of  the  highest  impor- 
tance that  Christians  do  not  overrate  their 
arrangements  and  proceedings  in  respect 
to  prayer.  It  is  greatly  to  be  feared  that 
there  is  much  erroneous  judgement  on  this 
subject.  Several  stated  concerts  would 
seem  to  indicate  that  prayer  is  deemed  im- 
portant; yet  how  often  has  a  general  ob- 
servance of  a  day  or  an  hour  been  agreed 
upon,  and  the  feeling  that  originated  the 
agreement,  been  almost  exhausted  in  that 
incipient  step  ;  so  that  at  the  recurrence 
of  the  consecrated  season,  the  place  of 
prayer  has  been  visited,  not  by  thronging 
multitudes,  with  the  spirit  of  lively  and 
fervent  supplication,  but  by  a  reluctant  few, 
and  by  them  perhaps,  under  the  impulse  of 


176  RELIGION   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

conscience  and  a  cold  sense  of  responsi- 
bility, to  offer  for  the  salvation  of  the  world 
the  abomination  of  lukewarmness  and  for- 
mahty. — O  what  proof  of  a  want  of  depend- 
ence on  himself,  and  of  a  conviction  of  the 
availableness  of  prayer,  must  such  observ- 
ances be,  to  Him  whose  eye  is  ever  fixed, 
not   on   the  outward  show  of  things,  but 
their   intrinsic  truth.      Must   it  not  be  a 
cause  of  constant  heaviness  and  sorrow  of 
heart  to  every  one,  not  under  the  general 
infatuation,  that  our  concerts  for  prayer, 
of  all  other  occasions  of  concourse  among 
Christians,  should  have  the  very  last  place 
in  the  esteem  of  the  church  ?     It  is  impos- 
sible to  lament  too  deeply  this  portentous 
fact.     In  vain  does  the  spiritually  minded 
man  who  justly  appreciates  it,  endeavour 
to  find  relief  under  its  depressing  power, 
from  the  other  good  omens  of  our  times. 
This  single  fact  in  the  scale  adverse  to  the 
church's  triumphs,  outweighs  whatever  may 
be  in  the  opposite  scale.     Let  not  Chris- 


CO-OPERATION   WITH   GOD.  177 

tians  trust  too  much  to  the  growing  acti- 
vity and  number  of  our  benevolent  institu- 
tions, while  our  concerts  for  prayer  are  so 
neglected.  Rather  let  them  take  the  alarm, 
let  them  tremble,  for  fear  of  what  may  yet 
come  to  pass.  While  no  more  interest,  no 
more  life,  can  be  infused  into  the  manner 
of  performing  the  duty  of  prayer,  all  is 
doubtful.  This  cloud  in  their  prospect, 
may  yet  overspread  the  heavens,  and  burst 
in  desolation,  which  centuries  may  not  re- 
pair. 

Amidst  then,  those  urgent  and  constantly 
multiplying  demands  for  labourers,  with 
which  their  ears  are  incessantly  assailed, 
will  Christians  still  give  themselves  up  to  the 
temptations  of  the  flesh,  and  forbear  to  lift 
their  cry  to  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  ?  Were 
it  not  a  most  mysterious  species  of  infatu- 
ation ?  Might  it  not  be  well  asked.  What 
mean  they  to  pretend  to  be  engaged  in 
seeking  the  world's  conversion  ?  Why  do 
they  not  abandon  the  enterprise  of  evangel- 


178  RELIGION   OP   THE   BIBLE. 

izing  mankind  ?  Why  do  they  not  dissolve 
their  benevolent  associations,  and  recall 
their  missionaries,  and  cast  the  commission 
of  their  Saviour  away,  declaring  its  fulfil- 
ment impracticable,  or  undesirable  ?  Nay, 
why  do  they  not  abjure  the  very  religion 
of  Christ,  and  abandon  themselves,  as  well 
as  the  heathen  and  the  whole  race  of  man, 
to  despair  ?  Surely  it  may  be,  in  consist- 
ency and  with  good  reason,  insisted,  either 
that  these  things  be  done,  or,  that  they  who 
make  mention  of  the  Lord,  keep  not  silence, 
and  give  him  no  rest,  till  he  establish,  and 
till  he  make  Jerusalem  a  praise  in  the  earth. 
No  reason  is  apparent,  why  a  reform 
should  not  forthwith  commence.  —  Let  the 
past  be  characterized  as  it  may,  by  cold- 
ness and  neglect,  neither  the  present  nor 
the  future,  ought  or  need  to  be,  on  that  or 
any  other  account,  similarly  distinguished. 
The  end  of  averseness  to  prayer  in  the 
church,  is  at  hand.  A  time  is  doubtless 
coming,  when,  as  it  was  in   some   of  our 


Co-operation  with  god.  179 

seasons  of  refreshing  a  few  years  since, 
the  place  of  meeting  for  prayer,  shall  have 
more  attractions  than  the  eloquence  of  any 
mortal's,  any  angel's  tongue ;  and  why 
should  not  the  present  be  the  date  of  that 
period  ?  Why  will  not  every  true  Chris- 
tian in  the  land,  make  a  covenant  with  him- 
self to  change  his  life  in  this  particular? 
Why  will  he  not  separate  and  sanctify  him- 
self, with  direct  reference  to  a  different 
course  for  the  time  to  come  ?  Why  will 
he  not  call  to  mind  how  Abraham,  and  Mo- 
ses, and  Elias,  and  Daniel,  and  Paul,  and 
above  all  how  the  Blessed  Jesus  laboured 
in  prayer  ;  and  resolve  in  God's  strength  to 
pray  in  the  same  manner?  Oh,  what  an 
amount  of  beneficent  power  would  our  clo- 
sets and  concerts  exert  upon  the  eternal 
destinies  of  our  world,  if  they  should  hence- 
forth be  such  scenes  of  importunate  and 
wrestling  supplication  ?  What  wonders  of 
grace  would  be  witnessed  in  our  churches, 
what  accessions  would  be  made  to  the  sa- 


180  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

cred  ministry,  what  an  impulse  would  be 
given  to  the  cause  of  missions,  what  bright- 
ness would  be  shed  upon  all  the  prospects 
of  the  church  ? 

It  is  amazing  to  a  man  of  heavenly  sym- 
pathies, that  Christians  should  need  any 
thing  else  to  keep  them  praying  always 
with  all  prayer  and  supplication  in  the  Spi- 
rit, besides  the  knowledge  of  the  fact  that 
•prayer  has  power  with  God.  To  be  assured, 
as  we  are  most  emphatically  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, that  intercession  is  as  truly  influen- 
tial on  the  proceedings  of  the  divine  ad- 
ministration, as  on  those  of  civil  or  domes- 
tic government  among  ourselves  ^ — is  not 
this  enough  to  keep  the  church  incessantly 
in  a  praying  posture  of  mind,  to  make 
each  individual  Christian  intent  on  redeem- 
ing every  moment  of  life  not  required  by 
other  duties,  for  the  exercise  of  secret  or 
social  intercession?  How  much  is  it  to 
be  longed  for,  that  Christians  should  lay 
their  hearts  open  to  the  influence  of  scrip- 


CO-OPERATION   WITH   GOD.  181 

tural  inculcation  on  this  subject?  On  what 
subject  has  the  Spirit  of  inspiration  poured 
forth  such  fulness  of  emotion,  of  illustra- 
tion, and  of  argument  ?  As  if  all  depended 
on  producing  a  just  impression  on  this 
point,  and  as  if  to  produce  such  an  impres- 
sion here,  was  of  all  things  the  most  diffi- 
cult, the  energies  of  the  divine  word  are  con- 
centrated and  borne  home  upon  the  heart 
in  order  to  effect  the  important  result.  All 
the  laws  of  intercession  as  exercised  amonff 
men,  are  appealed  to,  as  being  of  yet  great- 
er force,  in  respect  to  our  prayers  to  God, 
The  multiplication  and  character  of  the 
petitioners,  agreement  among  themselves, 
importunity,  confidence,  and  perseverance, 
in  urging  their  appF cation,  are  specified, 
and  with  wonderful  earnestness  enforced, 
as  increasing  our  prospects  of  success. 
And  now,  unless  we  would  make  Scripture 
unmeaning,  or  capable  of  misleading  us, 
what  hence  must  we  conclude,  but  that  it 
is  truly  owing  to  a  want  of  the  spirit  of 
16 


182  RELIGION    OP    THE    BIBLE. 

prayer  in  the  church,  that  the  world  re- 
mains under  the  bondage  and  curse  of  sin  ? 
This  is  the  fact;  and  it  is  a  fact  which 
ought  to  overwhelm  the  church  in  self-re 
proach  and  sadness  of  heart. 


VI. 
PRAYER. 

PART    FIRST. 


WHAT  PROFIT   SHOULD  WE   HAVE,   IF   WE   PRAY  UNTO 

HIM  ?  — Job  xxi.  15. 


The  utility  of  prayer,  which,  according  to 
this  Scripture,  wicked  men  dispute,  the 
present  discourse  humbly  attempts  to  de- 
monstrate. This  might  be  quickly  done, 
by  showing  that  God  requires  men  to  pray ; 
for  God,  being  infinitely  perfect,  cannot 
prescribe  a  useless  or  vain  service.  Con- 
sent, however,  to  the  utility  of  prayer,  so 
obtained,  would  be  grounded  on  the  pre- 
sumption of  its  usefulness,  not  on  the  vivid 
perception  of  the  intrinsic  evidences  of  its 
utility.  The  former  kind  of  consent  is  not 
the  most  desirable.  The  heart  is  never 
completely  and  permanently  won  to  truth, 


184  RELIGION   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

but  by  the  perception  of  its  inherent  excel- 
lence. When  we  have  convinced  men  that 
God  has  required  any  thing,  they  are  bound 
to  admit  its  excellence  or  utility.  But  be- 
fore we  can  effectually  commend  it  to  their 
joyful  concurrence,  their  complacency  and 
love,  we  must  present  to  their  minds  the 
proofs  of  its  essential  excellence.  This  is 
what  we  now  propose  to  do  in  relation  to 
prayer. 

Two  things  let  us  premise  :  First,  that 
we  speak  only  of  true  prayer;  not  the 
prayer  of  formality,  nor  of  enthusiasm,  nor 
of  selfish  anxiety ;  but  that  prayer  which, 
through  the  mediation  of  Christ,  offers  up 
the  heart's  desires  unto  God  with  repen- 
tance, and  faith,  and  true  submission. — 
Secondly;  that  in  nothing  which  we  say 
concerning  the  inherent  tendencies  and  the 
influence  of  prayer,  do  we  intend  an  exclu- 
sion of  the  Holy  Spirit's  agency  in  this  ex- 
ercise, although  we  no  where  distinctly 
mention  it.     The  object  of  the  discourse 


PRAYER.  186 

requires  no  reference  to  that  agency ;  it 
being  an  examination,  not  of  the  nature  of 
the  Holy  Spirit's  operation,  but  of  the  pro- 
duct thence  resulting.  These  things  pre- 
mised, we  remark,  that  the  utihty  of  prayer 
is  comprehended,  —  In  its  direct  tendency  to 
improve  the  human  character :  in  its  counter- 
acting injluence  on  whatever  tends  to  injure 
that  character :  in  its  e^cacious  itifluence  on 
whatever  is  favourable  to  it  ;  and,  in  its  per- 
suasive injluence  on  the  great  Source  of  bles- 
sedness himself 

I.  Prayer,  more  than  any  other  means,  is 
adapted,  in  its  own  nature,  to  improve  all 
the  powers  and  properties  of  the  human 
soul. 

Without  a  countervailing  influence,  the 
soul  of  man  will  always  acquire  the  charac- 
ter of  the  objects  with  which  it  has  inter- 
course. If  those  objects  be  great,  they 
will  leave  the  stamp  of  greatness ;  if  good, 
the  stamp  of  goodness  on  the  soul; — the 
stamp  of  littleness  on  the  other  hand,  if  the 
16* 


186  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

objects  be  little,  and  of  baseness,  if  they 
be  base. 

Again,  the  soul  is  more  or  less  strongly 
impressed  with  the  image  of  objects,  ac- 
cordingly as  it  contemplates  them  more  or 
less  directly  and  intensely.  He  who  re- 
gards a  thing  through  the  medium  of  his- 
torical information,  will  be  less  affected  by 
it,  than  he  who  with  his  own  eye  sees  it ; 
and  he  who  looks  at  an  object  closely  and 
minutely,  will  have  a  deeper  and  more  ex- 
act impression  of  it,  than  he  who  casts  to- 
wards it  one  or  two  glances. 

Experience  thoroughly  confirms  these 
observations.  Look  the  world  over,  and 
find  the  individual  whose  mind  and  moral 
character  do  not  correspond  to  the  objects 
about  which  his  thoughts  and  affections 
have  been  most  employed.  Is  there  any 
truer  proverb,  than  that  "  he  who  walketh 
with  wise  men  shall  be  wise,  and  the  com- 
panion of  fools  be  destroyed  ?"  To  know 
what  a  man  is,  it  is  necessary  but  to  know 


187 


what  company  he  keeps,  what  persons  and 
things  he  has  chosen  to  be  famihar  with ; 
and  as  his  famiharity  with  them  has  been 
greater  or  less,  so  it  is  certain  that  he 
bears,  more  or  less  perfectly,  their  image, 
whether  good  or  evil. 

But  if  these  remarks  be  incontrovertible, 
so  likewise  is  the  utility  of  prayer.  Prayer 
is  an  exercise  of  the  soul.  It  expresses 
the  state  of  the  soul  in  intercourse  with 
God.  With  God,  did  we  say  ?  Most  cer- 
tainly so  :  It  is  to  no  other  than  God,  su- 
premely Good  and  Glorious,  that  the  soul 
elevates  herself  in  prayer  —  elevates  not 
only  her  intellect,  but  her  conscience,  her 
affections  and  sympathies  —  her  whole  im- 
mortal and  ethereal  self; — not  to  specu- 
late—  but  to  adore  —  to  commune  —  to 
breathe  out  her  love,  and  desires,  and  long- 
ings, into  the  very  bosom  and  heart  of  the 
High  and  Lofty  One.  What  mode  of  in- 
tercourse more  direct,  more  intimate,  more 
aftectionate,  or  better  adapted  to  acquire 
the  image  of  the  Object  ? 


188  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

But  let  US  consider  the  nature  of  this 
high  intercourse  more  particularly.  The 
different  parts  of  prayer  require  correspon- 
dent acts  and  affections  of  mind,  which 
comprise  the  substance  of  all  moral  excel- 
lence, and  which  prayer,  by  frequently  cal- 
ling them  forth,  tends,  beyond  every  thing 
else,  to  invigorate  and  mature.  —  Prayer  is 
adoration.  And  when  are  the  divine  per- 
fections so  likely  to  expand  the  soul  with 
the  ardours  of  holy  love  and  delight,  as 
when  brought  distinctly  before  her  eye  in 
this  heavenly  employment  ?  The  philoso- 
pher may  be  indevout,  while  he  traces 
these  perfections  in  the  frame  of  nature  ; 
and  the  theologian  may  coldly  speculate 
and  discourse  concerning  them  as  exhibited 
in  Scripture.  But  he  who  fixes  a  firm  and 
single  eye  on  God  in  prayer,  and  dwells  on 
one  attribute  and  another  with  adoring  ad- 
miration, will  not  be  long  unconscious  of 
that  pure  flame,  in  which  are  blended  all 
the  elements  of  virtue  and  happiness,  — 


189 


Prayer  is  confession  of  sin :     And  when  is 
sin  more  apt  to  melt  the  heart  into  the  soft 
relentings  of  godly  contrition,  than  when 
carefully  recounted  to  Him  against  whom 
it  has  all  been  committed,  with  a  spirit 
awed  into  reverence  and  submission  by  the 
pure  majesty  of  the  Divine  Presence  ?  You 
may  speak  lightly  of  sin,  when  your  words 
are  directed  to  the  sinful  ear  of  a  creature 
like  yourself;  but  get  you  into  some  soli- 
tary place,  and  set  the  Lord  distinctly  and 
immediately  before  you;    and  spread  out 
your  offences  before  His  undefiled  eye; 
and  under  His  pure  and  piercing  gaze,  lay 
your  heart  and  hfe  open ;  —  and  wc  see  not 
how  you  are  ever  to  become  repentant,  if 
your  sorrows  do  not  then  begin  to  flow 
forth.  — Prayer  is  supphcation  for  mercy, 
grounded  upon  the  blood  of  Christ,  and 
the  promises,  which  in  him  are  yea  and 
amen  :     And  if  ever  the  heart  hath  advan- 
tages for  becoming  all  subdued  and  pos- 
sessed by  the  sentiments  and  feelings  which 


190  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

these  wonders  of  divine  love  should  excite, 
it  is  now.  Men  may  speak  to  one  another 
of  these  subjects  with  as  little  sensibility 
as  they  feel  towards  common  things :  but 
when  the  soul  collects  herself,  and  comes, 
and,  convinced  of  her  guilt,  stands  trem- 
bling and  pleading  before  her  great  Judge, 
and  tells  him  of  his  professed  clemency 
and  graciousness,  and  how  his  own  Son 
hath  loved  her,  and  how  he  himself  hath 
said  and  sworn  that  for  his  worthy  Son's 
sake,  he  will  withhold  no  blessing  from 
any  humble  contrite  suppliant  —  what  a  re- 
sistless tendency  hath  all  this  to  transfuse 
the  soul  with  confidence,  and  faith,  and 
full  assurance  of  hope.  —  Prayer,  finally, 
is  thanksgiving  for  favours  received :  And 
sure,  if  ever  gratitude  unfeigned  and  unex- 
tinguishable  do  glow  in  a  mortal's  breast, 
this  is  the  occupation  in  which  the  ethereal 
passion  is  generated  and  nourished.  You 
may  be  reminded  that  goodness  and  mercy 
have  followed  you  all  the  days  of  your  life, 


191 


and  look  around  you  upon  a  thousand  wit- 
nesses of  the  divine  benignity  still  com- 
passing you  about ;  and  your  heart  still  be 
but  little  awake  to  its  numberless  and  ev- 
erlasting obligations.  But  not  so,  if,  in  a 
secret  interview  with  your  Father  in  heav- 
en, you  yourself  tell  over  to  him  some  few 
of  the  countless  mercies  which  his  hand 
hath  been  incessantly  bestowing  on  you, 
since  you  first  became  the  object  of  his 
providential  and  gracious  care.  Thus  does 
it  appear,  how  the  various  excellencies  of 
holy  character  are  instrumentally  produced 
and  promoted  by  means  of  this  exercise : 
and  it  would  appear  more  convincingly,  if 
the  time  permitted  more  detail. 

Now  as  it  hence  results,  that  a  man  who 
lives  a  prayerful  life,  must  be  a  man  of 
transcendent  loveliness  and  worth,  we 
might  be  fairly  required  to  subject  our 
conclusion  to  the  decisive  test  of  fact  and 
example.  And  we  need  not  be  unwilling 
to  abide  the  trial.     So  much  was  the  life 


192  RELIGION   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

of  Enoch  a  life  of  prayer,  so  much  did  he 
acknowledge  the  divine  presence,  so  inti- 
mately did  he  converse  with  his  Maker  at 
all  times,  that  the  Scripture,  giving  a  brief 
description  of  this  ancient  prophet,  de- 
clares, that  he  "  walked  with  God."  And 
so  estimable  and  spiritual  did  that  man's 
character  become,  that  God,  seeing  the 
world  was  not  worthy  of  him,  translated 
him  to  heaven,  that  he  should  not  taste  of 
death.  And  of  Elias,  another  singular 
example  of  prayer,  it  is  also  testified,  that 
the  Lord  took  him  up  into  heaven,  not  by 
death,  but  by  a  whirlwind.  And  who  knows 
not  that  in  every  age  the  best  and  brightest 
of  men  have  been  those  who  approached 
nearest  to  these  illustrious  patterns  of  pray- 
er ?  At  this  present  time,  there  are  per- 
sons of  but  inferior  parts  and  accomplish- 
ments, who  by  reason  of  great  prayerful- 
ness,  transcend,  in  moral  worth,  professors 
of  high  distinction  and  splendid  gifts.  Re- 
ligionists, however  exalted,  who  are  not 


193 


often  with  God  in  prayer,  are  but  little 
profited  themselves  by  all  their  privileges ; 
and  but  little  profitable  to  others  by  all 
their  intercourse  with  them ;  but  contrary- 
wise,  being  persons  of  prayer  by  character, 
and  not  in  fact,  are  stumbling-blocks  to 
many ;  and  are  the  principal  causes  of  this 
world's  incredulity  in  regard  to  the  efficacy 
and  usefulness  of  prayer.  Great  therefore 
and  unparalleled  is  the  direct  tendency  of 
prayer  to  improve  the  human  character. 

II.  Its  utility  is  further  manifest,  we  next 
remark,  in  its  counteracting  influence  on 
whatever  tends  to  injure  that  character. 

If  a  thing  proves  its  excellence  by  its  own 
good  tendency  on  what  it  directly  exerts 
itself  upon,  it  proves  it  still  more  by  resist- 
ing and  overcoming  what  has  a  contrary 
tendency  —  a  tendency  to  counteract  and 
neutralize  the  good  it  aims  to  accomplish. 
If  a  man  show  me  friendship  by  coming  to 
me  with  favours  and  benefits,  he  shows  it 
further  by  defeating  the  designs  of  certain 
17 


194  RELIGION   OP   THE   BIBLE. 

enemies  who  intend  to  rob  me  of  them,  as 
soon  as  I  get  them  into  my  possession. 

Now  there  are  many  things  in  this  world 
always  acting  upon  the  soul  with  a  most 
debasing  and  ruinous  tendency ;  and  there 
are  no  means  of  overcoming  this  tendency 
so  efficacious  as  prayer. 

To  speak  first  generally  :  There  is  an 
influence  in  worldly  things  so  hostile  to 
the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  as  some- 
times to  make  these  latter  things  appear 
like  empty  shadows,  or  cunningly  devised 
fables ;  and  the  mysteries  of  the  everlast- 
ing Gospel  are  as  the  superstitious  stories 
which  frighten  credulous  children ;  and 
judgement  and  eternity,  heaven  and  hell, 
are  words,  by  which  crazed  or  criminal 
imaginations  have  expressed  their  fictions 
of  happiness  and  horror.  It  needs  no 
demonstration,  that  this  is  an  influence 
utterly  subversive  of  all  religion  and  virtue 
—  adapted  to  brutalize  man's  rational  na- 
ture ;  and  of  course,  if  there  be  a  future 


195 


State  in  fact,  to  involve  him  in  all  its  un- 
told terrors  and  torments.  Nor  need  we 
stay  long  to  show,  to  what  vast  extent  this 
baleful  influence  hath  full  and  domineering 
ascendency  over  infatuated  mankind ;  how, 
though  there  be  few  professed  skepticks 
and  scorners,  there  are  but  a  few  whose 
lives  do  not  preach  skepticism  from  begin- 
ning to  end ;  —  which  practical  skepticism 
is,  to  all  terrible  intents,  as  bad  as  any 
other.  Now  to  overcome  this  influence, 
there  is  no  other  way  than  to  have  the 
soul  brought  under  a  strong  impression  and 
bearing  from  spiritual  things.  By  the  very 
laws  of  mind,  one  impression  or  frame  of 
spirit  cannot  be  permanently  displaced  but 
by  the  introduction  of  another ;  and  that 
other  never  can  be  generated,  but  in  the 
presence  of  its  appropriate  object.  Of 
necessity,  therefore,  must  the  things  of  this 
world  sway  and  debase  the  human  mind, 
so  loner  as  the  things  of  the  invisible  world 
do   not   exert  themselves   upon   it.     You 


196  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

must  be  exposed  to  the  action  of  unseen 
things,  or  remain  in  unworthy  bondage  to 
things  which  are  seen.  You  must  be  in 
such  circumstances,  that  the  spiritual  glo- 
ries of  God  and  Christ,  and  the  promises 
and  threatenings  of  Scripture,  may  pour 
their  peculiar  influence  on  your  heart,  or 
else  you  must  remain  the  slave  of  mam- 
mon, and  sordid  drudge  of  the  flesh. 

Now  it  is  almost  unnecessary  to  remark, 
that  there  are  no  circumstances  in  which 
these  objects  are  so  nearly  approached  and 
so  deeply  felt,  as  when  the  soul  solemnly 
betakes  herself  to  the  exercises  of  prayer. 
We  grant  that  reading,  and  hearing,  and 
conversing  about  divine  things,  rightly 
managed,  may  make  profitable  impressions, 
and  should  by  no  means  be  omitted.  But 
there  are  thousands  that  read,  and  hear, 
and  converse,  and  though  some  feeling 
may  be  generated,  it  passes  over  their 
minds  as  the  little  circles,  produced  by  the 
falling  pebble,  pass  over  the  surface  of  the 


197 


smooth  water.  If  those  persons  could  be 
persuaded  to  try  the  influence  of  true  and 
fervent  prayer,  they  would  find  it  more 
availing.  Retired  from  the  world,  shut  up 
alone  with  Him  who  dwelleth  in  secret, 
kneeling  in  his  awful  presence,  fixing  the 
heart  for  communicating  and  receiving, 
speaking  to  him,  and  not  of  him  merely ; 
Oh,  this  brings  the  unseen  world  into  view, 
and  casts  earth  into  shade  and  emptiness ; 
this  takes  importance  and  reality  off"  from 
temporal  things,  and  puts  those  qualities 
on  eternal  and  spiritual  things ;  this  places 
the  soul  on  the  verge  of  eternity,  and  sub- 
jects her  to  the  beams,  and  breezes,  and 
blessed  visions  of  heaven.  Here  there  is 
hope  of  her  losing  her  skepticism  and 
worldliness.  In  these  circumstances  this 
world  hath  little  power;  and  it  were  not 
surprising,  if  he  who  habituates  himself  to 
an  exercise  like  this,  should  soon  have  his 
conversation  more  in  heaven  than  on  earth, 
and  his  walk  more  with  God  than  with 
men,  17* 


198  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

But  it  may  show  yet  more  forcibly  the 
counteracting  power  of  prayer,  to  consider 
its  operation  in  some  particular  instances 
of  its  resistance  to  the  world. 

The  world  then,  we  all  know,  tends  to 
make  the  sons  and  daughters  of  men  light- 
minded  ;  and  levity  is  no  ornament  of  man's 
rational  being ;  nor  is  it  at  all  suited  to  our 
condition  in  a  region  full  of  dangers,  and 
lamentations,  and  arrows  of  death ;  neither 
is  it  compatible  with  our  present  or  our 
eternal  well-being.  But  how  can  levity 
stand  before  prayer  '/  Books  and  sermons 
may  be  unable  to  contend  with  it.  You 
may  tell  us  of  those  who  let  no  day  pass 
without  running  through  a  chapter,  and  no 
sabbath  pass  without  a  visit  to  the  house 
of  God,  and  yet  have  just  as  much  of  this 
world's  vanity  in  their  hearts,  and  gaiety 
in  their  looks,  and  giddiness  in  their  lives,  as 
other  people.  Further,  we  have  heard  pro- 
fessed christians  gravely  reason  in  defence  of 
worldly  levities,  and  reason  themselves  into 


199 


a  persuasion  that  they  are,  to  say  the  least, 
innocent;  and  with  this  persuasion,  they 
have  freely  gone  into  them,  and  led  their 
unthinking  offspring  along  with  them  in  the 
wildering  path.  But  what  if  these  persons 
would  but  seek  in  prayer  to  know  the  way 
of  duty  ?  What  if  they  would  try,  whether 
they  could  keep  the  spirit  of  levity  at  the 
throne  of  grace,  or  get  leave  of  Him, 
who  sitteth  thereon,  to  be  guided  by  that 
spirit  ?  What  if  they  w  ould  go  to  their 
Father  who  is  in  secret,  and  ask  his  bles- 
sing upon  their  intended  indulgences  ?  Or 
what  if,  after  leaving  their  gay  companions 
and  diversions,  they  would  go  and  tell 
Him  of  the  way  in  which  their  time  and 
faculties  had  been  employed,  to  see  whether 
it  would  be  sanctioned  by  the  uplifted  light 
of  his  countenance  !  How  could  levity 
endure  such  an  experiment?  How  man- 
ifestly must  a  man  of  true  prayer  be  a  man 
of  pure  and  permanent  sobriety;  serene 
and  settled,  and  cheerful  without  light- 
ness. 


200  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

Again,  the  world  often  fills  the  bosoms 
of  men  with  avarice  and  ambition ;  under 
the  former  of  which  they  make  haste  to  be 
rich,  and  under  the  latter  to  be  great ; 
under  either,  or  both,  to  be  undone  ; 
since  the  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all 
evil;  and  since  they  have  no  heart  to  be- 
Heve  the  gospel,  who  receive  honour  one 
of  another. 

Would  you  then  regard  that  as  a  useless 
thing,  which  has  a  tendency  to  eradicate 
these  base  passions  from  the  hearts  of 
men  ?  But  if  men  would  give  themselves 
to  prayer,  they  would  soon  cease  to  be 
the  slaves  of  these  passions.  Prayer  would 
quickly  dethrone  and  banish  these  guilty 
usurpers  of  dominion  over  the  immortal 
minds  of  men.  If  men  would  acknowledge 
God  in  all  their  ways,  God  himself  would 
be  their  ruler  and  guide;  and  his  Holy 
Spirit  would  hold  the  throne  of  their 
hearts.  If,  before  they  undertake  their 
plans  and  enterprises,  they  would  submit 


PRATER.  201 

them,  with  the  calmness  and  seriousness 
of  pure  devotion,  for  the  approbation  of 
Him,  on  whom  they  depend  for  success, 
how  many  of  them  would  they  relinquish, 
and  with  what  moderation  would  they  pro- 
secute the  rest !  Seest  thou  a  man  hurry- 
ing, and  scrambling,  and  scuffling  for  the 
pelf  or  the  praise  of  this  world  ?  Assuredly 
thou  seest  a  prayerless  soul;  professor  or 
not,  he  is  a  prayerless  soul :  —  one  who, 
if  he  deals  at  all  with  God  in  prayer,  deals 
with  him  only  so  far  as  to  mock  and  insult 
him  ?  A  praying  man  knows  too  much 
concerning  the  true  riches,  and  the  honour 
which  Cometh  from  God,  to  discover  such 
miserable  infatuation  for  the  things  of  an 
hour.  To  such  a  man  it  matters  little, 
whether  he  rank  with  this  world's  rich  or 
poor,  its  mighty  or  its  mean.  Riches  can- 
not exalt,  nor  poverty  depress  him;  hon- 
ours cannot  elate  him,  nor  reproaches 
break  his  heart.  He  dwelleth  in  the  se- 
cret place  of  the  Most  High,  abiding  un- 


202  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

der  the  shadow  of  the  Almighty;  afraid 
neither  for  the  terror  by  night,  nor  for  the 
arrow  that  flieth  by  day. 

Once  more,  the  world  is  full  of  blinding 
and  infatuating  influences,  whereby  the 
ears  of  men  are  turned  away  from  the 
truth  and  are  turned  unto  fables ;  and  some 
have  one  doctrine  and  some  another ; 
while  the  ungodliness  of  others  takes  occa- 
sion from  the  variance,  to  renounce  all  re- 
ligious opinions,  and  to  hold  every  thing  per- 
taining to  God  and  another  world  uncer- 
tain, unsettled,  and  incapable  of  ever  being 
placed  on  any  sure  basis  :  Such  confusion 
and  doubt  hath  human  depravity  engen- 
dered in  a  world  to  which  God's  oracles 
have  been  given  for  a  guide  and  directory 
in  the  way  of  truth !  Nevertheless,  men 
must  be  extricated  from  this  labyrinth,  as 
they  would  be  either  sanctified  or  saved. 
As  salvation  is  inseparable  from  holiness, 
so  is  holiness  from  the  belief  of  the  truth. 
They   have   pleasure    in    unrighteousness 


203 


who  believe  not  the  truth;  and  against 
all  the  ungodliness  and  unrighteousness 
of  men,  the  everlasting  wrath  of  God  is 
revealed  from  heaven. 

Yet  they  plead  the  impossibility  of 
knowing  what  is  truth.  The  Bible  cannot 
satisfy  them;  books  cannot  satisfy  them; 
sermons  but  multiply  their  difficulties ; 
and  what  are  they  to  do  ?  The  Eternal 
Source  of  truth  hath  informed  them,  that 
they  would  arrive  at  certainty,  if  they 
would  but  cease  their  rebelhon  against 
God.  "  If  any  man  will  do  his  will,  he 
shall  know  of  the  doctrine."  It  is  nothing 
but  the  spirit  of  disobedience  that  subjects 
any  man  to  the  domination  of  heresy  and 
delusion.  But  not  to  enter  on  the  proof 
of  this,  in  its  universal  scope,  we  affirm,  that 
obedience  to  God,  in  the  single  article  of 
prayer,  will  prove  a  sure  touchstone  of 
truth,  and  an  impregnable  defence  to  the 
soul  against  all  the  innovations  of  ruinous 
opinions  and  dogmas.    The  soul  in  prayer 


204  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

Stands  too  near  the  Fountain  of  light  and 
truth  to  be  invaded  by  the  fatal  infections 
of  error.  Her  temper,  in  this  exercise,  is 
incongenial  to  every  thing  in  error's  like- 
ness, and  shrinks  away  from  its  polluting 
approach,  as  modesty  recoils  from  the  ap- 
proach of  impudence.  Nothing  certainly 
but  pure  truth  is  capable  of  being  either 
rehshed  or  expressed  by  the  spirit  of  genu- 
ine prayer.  For  the  spirit  of  such  prayer 
is  the  spirit  of  humility  and  submissiveness, 
of  heavenly  sincerity  and  holy  love ;  and 
how,  with  such  a  spirit,  can  any  false- 
hood have  agreement  ?  On  such  a  spirit 
light  will  be  poured  from  all  nature,  as 
well  as  from  the  Providence,  and  Book,  and 
Spirit  of  God.  And  hence  the  common 
observation,  that  good  men  always  think 
alike  in  prayer.  Nor  is  prayer  an  un- 
thoughtful  business.  Much  of  intellect, 
as  well  as  feeling,  is  breathed  forth  in 
true  devotion ;  nay  from  almost  every  true 
prayer  an  epitome  of  the  gospel  might  be 
extracted. 


PRAYER.  205 

Wherefore  nothing  is  more  unfounded 
than  the  pretence  of  not  being  able  to 
come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  in  the 
midst  of  this  world's  jargon  of  opinions. 
There  is  a  sure  and  an  easy  way;  nor  is 
the  existence  of  that  destructive  jargon 
resolvable  into  any  thing  else,  than  the 
world's  forgetfulness  of  God,  and  known 
character  for  prayerlessness.  Let  no  one 
question  it,  that  prayer  universally  tried, 
would  unite  the  whole  world,  substantially, 
in  the  same  mind  and  judgement,  nor  leave 
any  man  doubtful  as  to  an  essential  article 
of  faith.  Thou  that  hearest  this  announce- 
ment, art,  perhaps,  an  unsettled,  unhappy 
skeptick;  yet  desirest  not  to  be  so,  and 
hast  long  tried  to  convince  thyself.  Thou 
hast  read ;  thou  hast  disputed ;  and  thou 
hast  listened,  in  hope  that  thy  doubts  might 
be  dissipated.  We  will  not  question  that 
thou  hast  done  all  this;  but  full  well  we 
know,  there  is  one  thing  thou  hast  not 
done.  Thou  hast  not  disinterred  thy 
18 


206  RELIGION    OP    THE    BIBLE. 

heart  out  of  this  world's  pollutions  and 
vanities.  Thou  hast  been  living  in  the 
spirit  and  in  the  ways  of  them  who  fear 
not  God.  It  hath  not  been  thy  daily  de- 
light to  enter  into  thy  closet  and  shut  thy- 
self in  from  all  earthly  society,  and  then 
bow  down  thy  spirit  before  His  presence 
who  seeth  in  secret.  Hadst  thou  done 
but  this,  thou  wouldst  not  have  been  now 
a  tired  wanderer,  near  eternity's  dread 
brink,  with  a  mind  full  of  doubt,  void  of 
fixed  hope,  aching  with  ungratified  desire, 
and  anon  shivering  with  apprehension  of 
what  may  yet  befall. 


VII. 
PRAYER. 

PART   SE.COND. 

III.  Thus  have  we  considered  the  influence 
of  prayer  in  counteracting  the  debasing  and 
soul-destroying  tendencies  of  the  world. 
There  are  other  tendencies  favourable  to 
the  soul's  welfare,  and  we  now  wish  to 
show  briefly  the  efficacious  influence  of 
prayer  upon  these. 

We  begin  with  the  Word  of  God.  That 
word  is,  in  its  unresisted  applications  to 
the  heart,  quick  and  powerful,  and  as  the 
fire  and  the  hammer  which  breaketh  the 
Tock  in  pieces.  It  is  perfect,  converting 
the  soul ;  sure,  making  wise  the  simple  ; 
right,  rejoicing  the  heart ;  pure,  enlighten- 
ing the  eyes  —  but  the  time  would  fail  us 


208  RELIGION  OP  THE   BIBLE. 

to  repeat  a  small  part  of  what  Inspiration 
hath  spoken  in  its  praise.  It  is  neverthe- 
less powerless  independently  of  prayer ; 
for,  however  great  its  excellencies,  prayer- 
lessness  will  either  keep  them  out  of  view, 
or  turn  them  into  deformities  and  stumbling- 
blocks.  What  are  the  beauties  of  the  rain- 
bow, or  the  beams  of  the  sun  to  the  blind 
man  ?  And  who  more  blind,  though  volun- 
tarily so,  than  the  prayerless  soul  ?  What 
was  the  glory  of  the  only  begotten  of  the 
Father  to  the  earthly-minded  Jews,  when 
He  dwelt  among  them,  full  of  grace  and 
truth  ?  And  what  also,  are  the  wonders 
of  Truth  and  Wisdom  in  sacred  Scripture, 
to  those  who  are  so  swayed  by  an  obstinate 
will,  that  they  cast  oft'  fear,  and  restrain 
prayer  to  God  ?  Depravity  can  see  no 
beauty  in  holiness  ;  and  who  are  depraved, 
if  not  the  prayerless  ?  When  such  persons 
have  read  the  Bible  till  they  have  it  in  all 
their  memories,  what  are  they  better  ? 
Which  hath  the  greater  charms  in  their 


PRAYER.  209 

eye,  God's  truth  or  their  riches ;  salvation 
or  the  pleasures  of  sin  ?  We  have  known 
of  such  great  readers,  who  seemed  to  have 
learned  by  their  researches,  how  to  cavil 
and  blaspheme,  or  to  play  the  bigot  or  the 
fanatic  —  such  miserable  fruit  of  their  la- 
bour came  of  their  not  mixing  prayer  with 
it.  Even  the  renewed  find  prayer  still  in- 
dispensable to  a  profitable  meditation  in 
Scripture.  Remaining  pollution  will  blind 
their  eye,  if  the  anointing  of  the  Holy  One 
be  not  constantly  sought;  and  therefore, 
though  the  sacred  pages  lie  open  before 
them,  and  though  they  have  once  been 
truly  enlightened  to  understand  them,  they 
shall  not,  without  unremitted  prayer,  con- 
tinue to  behold  the  wonders  of  God's  law. 

But  the  Bible  is  not  the  only  book  that 
may  profit  the  soul  of  man.  There  are 
profound  treatises  on  every  subject  of 
theology  and  morals,  in  which  treasures  of 
light  and  learning  are  contained  for  the 
edification  of  mankind ;  and  here,  where 
18* 


210  RELIGION   OP   THE   BIBLE. 

man  speaks  to  man,  what  can  hinder  the 
acquisition  of  benefit  by  the  dihgent  stu- 
dent ?  Without  meaning  to  discourage 
deep  study,  let  me  rather  ask,  what  can 
hinder  its  resulting  fatally,  if  prayer  be 
restrained  ?  It  matters  not  what  the  sub- 
jects of  human  thought  are,  if  intellect 
alone  be  conversant  with  them  —  if  the 
other  faculties  of  the  soul  —  the  conscience, 
the  will,  the  aflfections,  —  be  not  duly  exer- 
cised, the  reign  of  depravity,  instead  of 
being  overthrown,  is  established.  And  the 
danger  is  not  imaginary,  that  in  deep  and 
retired  studies  these  other  faculties  will 
not  be  proportionately  engaged.  Those 
pastors  know  this,  whose  souls  are  kept  in 
an  almost  constant  stretch  of  thought,  in 
order  to  get  food,  intellectual  and  spiritual, 
for  their  flocks,  that  else  would  starve  for 
lack  of  knowledge.  Many  think  their  lives 
easy,  and  their  labour  well  rewarded,  if 
they  are  just  kept  out  of  want :  but  these 
know  little  of  mental  travail ;  which,  in  our 


PRAYER.  211 

case,  while  it  is  all  for  the  profit  of  others, 
greatly  endangers  our  own  spiritual  state. 
We  have  to  think  so  much  for  them,  that 
often  we  have  hardly  time  for  prayer  ;  un- 
less we  think  and  pray  at  once ;  and  yet 
nothing  but  prayer  can  keep  our  thinking 
from  withering  up  the  life  of  our  personal 
godhness.  —  Study,  in  short,  will  much  ad- 
vance the  soul,  if  it  be  conducted  with  a 
prayerful  spirit ;  but  if  prayer  be  slighted, 
while  study  accumulates  knowledge,  it  also 
genders  spiritual  leanness  and  impotence  ; 
and  it  is  well  if  it  prove  not  a  savour  of 
death  unto  death  at  last. 

Thus,  also,  as  to  the  divine  ordinance  of 
public  Preaching — that  ordinance  by  means 
of  which  more  hath  been  done  for  man's 
spiritual  interest,  than  by  all  other  means 
beside.  A  man  may  make  his  boast  of 
having  the  ablest  minister  in  the  land,  and 
of  hearing  habitually  the  most  clear  and 
pungent  discourses  that  the  human  tongue 
hath  ever  pronounced ;  and  yet  the  good 


212  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

of  every  sermon  may  be  lost  to  that  man, 
for  want  of  the  spirit  of  prayer  in  his  hear- 
ing.   For  what  though  the  seed  be  the  best, 
and  be  sown  with  the  greatest  dihgence,  if 
it  fall  upon  hard-beaten,  or  stony,  or  thorny 
ground  ?     Now  there  is  no  other  way  of 
preparing  the  ground  of  the  heart  for  the 
seed  of  the  word,  than  prayer ;  and  no  other 
influence  but  that,   which    prayer    draws 
down  upon  the  soul,  can  make  that  seed 
vegetate  and  yield  fruit.     A  church-going 
man,  who  is  not  also  a  man  of  prayer,  has 
no  better  reason  to  expect  spiritual  benefit 
from  the  ordinances  of  grace,  than  a  hus- 
bandman  has  to   expect  a   harvest,   who 
plants  his  grain,  and  leaves  his  field  an  un- 
fenced  common.     It  is  he  who  enters  his 
closet  before  he    comes   to  the  house  of 
God,  and  prays  in  secret,  before  he  takes 
his  place  in  the  public  assembly,  and  keeps 
still  praying  while  the  word  is   sounding 
powerfully  in  his  ear,  and  forgets  not  an- 
other retreat  to  his  private  chamber  after 


PRAYER.  213 

dismission  from  the  courts  of  the  Lord  — 
this  is  the  man  who  grows,  and  thrives,  as 
every  one  ought,  under  the  ministrations  of 
the  word. 

The  same  necessity  is  there  for  prayer, 
to  make  Providential  dispensations  availa- 
ble to  the  advancement  of  man's  salvation. 
For  though  adversities  have  a  tendency  to 
draw  him  away  from  the  idolatry  of  the 
world,  and  mercies  should  lift  his  affec- 
tions to  their  glorious  Source,  yet  all  ex- 
perience testifies,  that  the  former  will  only 
sink  him  into  sullen  melancholy  or  fretful- 
ness,  and  the  latter  infatuate  him  with  pride 
and  self-sufficiency,  unless  he  keep  near  to 
God  in  the  exercise  of  prayer. 

Thus,  besides  ennobling  man's  soul,  by 
its  own  proper  and  direct  influence ;  and 
keeping  other  influences  from  injuring  it, 
by  resisting  and  overcoming  them  ;  prayer 
is  of  this  further  utility,  that  it  makes  all 
favourable  influences  secure  of  their  end. 
And  now,  whether,  taking  these  things  to- 


214  RELIGION    OP    THE    BIBLE. 

gether,  there  be  not  good  reason  to  esteem 
prayer  useful,  none  we  think  can  doubt, 
except  those  who  are  resolved  not  to  be 
convinced, 

IV.  But  all  the  truth  on  this  subject  has 
not  yet  been  told.  Prayer  has  another  bear- 
ing—  another  kind  of  influence,  than  any 
which  hath  yet  been  considered.  It  has 
an  influence,  not  only  upon  ourselves,  and 
upon  all  the  means  and  second  causes, 
which  tend  either  to  our  injury  or  advan- 
tage, but  upon  Him  likewise,  to  whom  it  is 
addressed  —  upon  the  mind  and  conduct  of 
God  himself. 

So,  most  obviously,  are  we  taught  in 
holy  Scripture,  especially  in  those  winning 
words  of  Christ  — "  What  man  is  there  of 
you,  whom  if  his  son  ask  bread,  will  he 
give  him  a  stone  ?  or  if  he  ask  a  fish,  will 
he  give  him  a  serpent  ?  If  ye  then,  being 
evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto 
your  children,  much  more  shall  your  Father 
which  is  in  heaven  give  good  things  unto 


215 


them  that  ask  him  ?"  For  what  are  we  to 
gather  from  this  and  many  parallel  texts, 
if  the  only  influence  of  prayer  is  that  which 
it  exerts  either  directly  or  indirectly  upon 
ourselves?  Is  it  consistent  with  any  just 
rule  of  interpreting  language,  to  give  this, 
or  any  thing  compatible  with  this,  as  the 
meaning  of  passages  which  represent  God 
as  bestowing  benefits  in  answer  to  earnest 
supplication  for  them  ?  How  iii  answer  if 
the  supplication  hath  no  influence  to  pro- 
cure them  ?  Is  it  not  clear,  that  any  ren- 
dering of  these  passages,  which  admits  not 
that  prayer  has  in  some  way  a  persuasive 
influence  on  God,  is  a  wresting,  —  not 
an  explaining,  of  Scripture,  —  adapted  to 
make  men  heartless  and  cold  in  an  exer- 
cise which  should  never  be  otherwise  than 
fervent. 

Look  at  scriptural  examples  of  prayer. 
When  Jacob,  after  wrestling  in  this  exer- 
cise till  break  of  day,  still  refused  to  cease 
without  a  blessing,  how  far  was  he  from 


216  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

supposing  that  the  only  influence  of  prayer 
was  that  which  it  had  on  his  own  mind  ? 
Did  those  effectual  prayers  of  Moses, 
which  turned  away  wrath  from  rebellious 
Israel,  even  after  God  had  threatened  to 
destroy  them,  exert  no  influence  except  on 
Moses  himself?  Were  those  prayers  of 
Elijah,  which  availed  to  shut,  and  after- 
wards to  open  heaven,  without  all  influ- 
ence, except  on  Elijah's  own  heart  ?  And 
what  shall  we  say  of  Abraham's  prayer  for 
Sodom  ?  or  Daniel's  for  Jerusalem  ?  or  that 
of  the  first  Christians,  which  brought  an 
angel  down  from  heaven  for  St.  Peter's  en- 
largement? or,  indeed,  of  any  prayer  in 
behalf  of  others,  —  if  the  influence  of  prayer 
is  confined  to  those  who  off'er  it. 

And  why  should  it  be  thought  inconsist- 
ent with  the  infinite  perfection  of  God, 
that  he  should  be  influenced  by  prayer? 
It  is  surely  agreeable  to  God's  perfection 
to  love  righteousness  and    hate  iniquity, 


217 


and  give  due  expression  of  that  love  and 
hatred  by  distributing  equal  rewards  and 
punishments.  As  well  deny  the  being  of 
God,  as  make  him  indifferent  to  holiness 
and  sin.  But  true  prayer  is  holiness,  and 
prayerlessness  is  sin.  In  him  then  who 
prays,  God  discerns  something  excellent; 
something  which,  consistently  with  his 
perfection,  he  may  approve  and  reward. 
In  him  who  does  not  pray,  God  discerns 
something  evil  and  hateful ;  and  which, 
therefore,  must  draw  forth  his  abhorrence 
and  indignation.  Just  as  a  prodigal  son, 
who  asks  forgiveness  of  his  father,  pre- 
sents, in  his  penitent  and  submissive  spirit, 
a  reason  why  his  father  should  receive  him 
to  his  arms ;  —  a  reason  it  may  be,  that  pre- 
vails ;  while  another  unreformed  prodigal, 
who  implores  no  forgiveness,  presents  no 
such  reason,  and  receives  no  such  favour. 
But  does  not  this  doctrine  make  God 
changeable  ?  Not  more  so,  we  first  reply, 
than  God's  being  influenced  by  the  obsti- 
19 


218  RELIGION   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

nacy  of  sinners  suddenly  and  without  rem- 
edy to  destroy  them ;  and  by  the  holiness 
of  his  people,  to  smile  upon  them  with 
complacency  and  loving-kindness.  But 
wherein,  let  us  ask,  consists  the  unchange- 
ableness  of  God?  Not  in  his  being  al- 
ways entirely  destitute  of  moral  feeling; 
but  in  his  feelings  always  alike  towards  the 
same  objects  in  the  same  circumstances. 
God,  doubtless,  has  perfectly  pure  and  pro- 
per feeling  toward  all  things.  But  all  things 
being  eternally  present  in  his  view,  he  is 
eternally,  and  always  in  the  same  degree  and 
manner,  affected  by  them.  The  prayer 
that  forms  a  reason  for  his  showing  favour 
at  this  moment,  has  always  been  before  his 
infinite  mind ;  and  before  it  with  all  its  pre- 
sent persuasive  influence. 

Nor  is  there  any  conflict  between  our 
doctrine  of  prayer  and  that  of  the  divine 
purposes.  The  purposes  of  God  embrace 
all  events,  and  embrace  them  in  that  very 
order  in  which  they  occur  in  time.     If,  in 


PRAYER.  219 

the  order  of  actual  occurrence,  prayer  al- 
ways precedes  the  bestowal  of  blessings, 
it  precedes  it  agreeably  to  the  order  of 
the  divine  purposes.  If,  in  the  purpose  of 
God,  prayer  eternally  stands  present  as 
the  immediate  condition  of  his  favour,  it 
were  inconsistent,  if  things  were  not  so,  in 
event. 

It  does  not  appear,  therefore,  that  we 
speak  otherwise  than  soberly  and  truly, 
when  we  say,  that  prayer  hath  power  with 
God.  There  is  nothing  in  the  word  of 
God,  nothing  in  his  nature,  nothing  in 
his  purposes,  to  discourage  the  hope  of 
prevailing  with  him  by  prayer.  Far,  in- 
finitely far  different  is  the  fact.  Hath  the 
hungry  child  encouragement  to  hope  he 
shall  not  ask  his  parent,  in  vain,  for  whole- 
some food  ?  The  most  affectionate  parent 
would  sooner  give  such  a  child  a  stone  for 
bread,  or  a  scorpion  for  a  fish,  than  the 
Father  of  mercies  refuse  his  Holy  Spirit 
to  them  that  ask  him.     There  is  not  in  the 


220  RELIGION  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

universe  a  being,  who  compared  with  God, 
hath  any  susceptibihty  to  the  influence  of 
prayer.  What  emanations  of  love  hath  it 
drawn  from  his  heart !  What  blessings  of 
goodness  from  his  hand !  His  mightiest 
acts  have  been  achieved  in  answer  to 
prayer.  "  What  terrible  judgements  have 
been  averted ;  what  mighty  armies  con- 
quered ;  nay  more,  the  very  course  of  na- 
ture changed  —  the  sun  himself  arrested  — 
by  the  power  of  prayer  !"  —  Who  can  as- 
sign the  limits  of  that  power  ?  Who  can 
tell  what  influence  prayer  hath  had  on  the 
government  of  God  in  this  world  ?  But 
since  all  the  parts  of  God's  empire  are 
united,  its  influence  has  travelled  beyond 
earth's  boundary,  and  is  now  exerting  itself, 
and  will  exert  itself  for  ever,  on  the  far 
distant  tracts  of  creation. 

While  we  muse  on  this.  Oh,  how  re- 
freshing and  invigorating  is  the  recollection, 
that  at  this  present  period,  the  smoke  of 
the  incense  of  prayer  is  rising  up  to  heaven 


221 


day  and  night  from  a  thousand  oratories 
in  the  four  quarters  of  the  Globe  !  As- 
suredly the  time  draws  nigh  of  the  resti- 
tution of  all  things.  What  wonders  shall 
the  arm  of  God  presently  achieve  in  fulfil- 
ment of  the  desires  of  his  saints.  Away 
fly  all  obstructions  to  the  universal  spread 
of  Christian  truth.  Away  pass  the  infidels 
and  scorners  of  the  day  to  their  own  pro- 
per places,  and  the  Gospel  of  the  kingdom 
becomes  the  glory  of  the  nations,  and  the 
earth  resounds  with  "  Alleluia,  Salvation  !" 
Transporting  scene !  and  yet  is  it  not  possi- 
ble, that  some  man  may  read  all  this,  and 
without  gainsaying  it,  remain  unapprized  of 
his  private  concern  in  the  blest  contempla- 
tion ?  We  would  put  thee  in  mind,  then,  in- 
considerate brother,  that  the  end  of  reading 
and  hearing  is  practice ;  and  that  thou  wilt 
be  but  a  despiser  of  divine  counsel,  if  thy 
life  henceforth  be  not  a  hfe  of  true  prayer. 
It  depends  upon  thy  conduct  concerning 
prayer,  how  it  is  to  fare  with  thy  soul  for- 
19* 


222  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

ever.  It  depends  upon  this,  whether  thou 
find  in  God  a  friend  or  an  enemy ;  and  of 
course,  whether  all  things  shall  work  to- 
gether for  thy  good  or  thy  ruin.  It  may 
not,  indeed,  depend  upon  thy  praying, 
whether  the  ordinary  fruits  of  the  divine 
bounty  shall  be  bestowed  or  not,  God's  sun- 
shine and  rain  are  given  to  the  praying 
and  prayerless ;  and  even  blasphemers  and 
atheists  riot  on  his  exhaustless  beneficence. 
But  prayer  makes  this  difference  —  that 
while  temporal  blessings  become  as  wings, 
with  which  a  praying  man  soars  to  his  eter- 
nal rest ;  they  become  as  millstones  about 
the  necks  of  the  prayerless,  with  which  they 
will  be  sunk  down  in  the  deep  of  eternal 
despair.  "I  will  curse  your  blessings," 
saith  he  who  gave  them  —  "yea,  I  have 
cursed  them  already,  because  ye  lay  it  not 
to  heart  to  give  God  the  glory."  Whether 
thou  prayest  or  not,  a  smooth  full  tide  of 
prosperity  may  float  thee  along  for  a  sea- 
son ;  but  a  storm  is  gathering ;  and  soon 


223 


the  current  will  turn  against  thee  ;  and  if 
thou  art  not  a  man  of  prayer,  the  proud 
waters  shall  overwhelm  thee,  and  thy  pros- 
perity be  thy  destruction. 

Nor  can  we  suppress  the  apprehension, 
that  thine  own  soul  will  not  be  the  only 
victim  of  thy  negligence  in  this  prime  re- 
gard. Thou  standest  not  separate  and 
aloof  from  all  the  rest  of  the  sons  of 
men ;  but  sustainest  towards  them  relations 
through  which,  of  necessity,  thou  exertest 
some  influence,  hurtful  or  happy,  on  their 
eternal  condition.  Art  thou  one  in  autho- 
rity ?  Thine  inferiors  regarding  thee,  per- 
haps, not  only  as  higher,  but  as  more 
knowing  than  themselves,  learn  from  thy 
prayerlessness,  that  to  cast  off  fear  and  re- 
strain prayer  to  God  is  no  crime,  no  dis- 
grace, and  of  no  ill  consequence  —  under 
which  delusion  thou  art  leading  them  on 
to  the  perdition  of  ungodly  men. — Art 
thou  a  parent  ?  Then  thine  doubtless  is 
one  of  the  families  that  call   not  on  the 


224  RELIGION  Of  THE   BIBLE. 

name  of  the  Lord  ;  and  from  all  the  exalt- 
ing influences  of  prayer  thine  offspring, 
by  thy  fault,  are  withheld.  And  will  they 
not,  by  the  same  means,  be  also  withheld 
from  grace  and  the  inheritance  of  life  ?  — 
Art  thou  a  member  of  the  church  ?  Thy 
remissness  in  prayer  exerts  a  secret  influ- 
ence to  make  the  courts  of  Zion  desolate, 
and  her  ways  to  mourn ;  and  to  take  out 
of  their  places,  or  obscure  the  brightness 
of  her  golden  candlesticks.  —  Art  thou  a 
minister  of  God  ?  Thousands  may  go 
away  to  wail  forever  in  the  prisons  of 
darkness,  because  thou  givest  not  thyself 
to  the  exercise  of  prayer.  By  that  one 
neglect,  thy  thoughts  are  sensualized,  thy 
discourses  robbed  of  unction,  thy  walk  be- 
fore the  saints  made  a  snare  and  scandal, 
and  all  thy  ministrations  sadly  marred  and 
misdirected,  if  not  utterly  perverted.  The 
prayerless  man  perisheth  not  alone  in  his 
iniquity. 

A  word,  at  parting,  to  the  saint — the 


225 


man  of  faith  in  Christ.  Great,  beloved 
brother,  and  manifold  are  thy  privileges ; 
but  what  we  now  would  humbly  call  upon 
thee  to  bear  in  constant  remembrance,  is, 
the  power  which  thou,  all  impotent  and 
helpless  as  thou  art  in  thyself,  can  exert 
through  prayer.  The  feeblest  of  saints 
can  chase  a  thousand  —  can  put  ten  thous- 
and to  flight  —  can  overcome  the  world 
—  can  elevate  himself  to  higher  hon- 
our than  earth  can  give  or  appreciate. 
There  is  a  kind  of  omnipotence  in  prayer ; 
as  having  an  influence  on  him  who  is  Al- 
mighty. But  why  do  we  put  thee  in  mind  of 
this  ?  Not  because  we  would  have  thee  in- 
flate thyself  with  pride ;  but  because  we 
remember  that  the  spirit  of  prayer  is  al- 
together benevolent.  Its  power  is  un- 
to the  destruction  of  nothing  but  sin  and 
its  fruits.  Its  power  hath  the  same  scope 
and  aim  with  that  Glorious  Being  on  whom 
it  depends.  Pure  prayer's  first  accents 
are,  "  hallowed  be  thy  name,  thy  kingdom 


226  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

come,  thy  will  be  done  in  earth  as  it  is  in 
heaven."  Faithful  brother,  man  of  prayer, 
—  a  man  who  hath  power  with  God,  —  for- 
get not,  we  beseech  thee,  what,  by  means  of 
prayer,  thou  art  capable  of  accomplishing. 
The  world's  conversion  hath  not  yet  been 
achieved.  Means,  with  that  great  end  in 
purpose,  have  been  long  in  operation, 
and  have  recently  been  much  increased. 
What  those  means  are,  thou  knowest ;  and 
their  powerlessness,  independently  of  God's 
blessing,  thou  knowest  also.  We  remind 
thee  again  of  thy  privilege,  as  endued  with 
the  spirit  of  grace  and  supplication.  For 
Zion's  sake,  then,  hold  not  thy  peace,  for 
Jerusalem's  sake  rest  not,  until  the  righte- 
ousness thereof  go  forth  as  brightness, 
and  the  salvation  thereof  as  a  lamp  that 
burneth.  There  is  neither  dulness  in  the 
ear  nor  weariness  in  the  arm  of  God. 
Both  almighty  strength  and  boundless  mer- 
cy are  awake  and  alert,  to  make  full  and 
swift  return  to  any  righteous  man's  effec- 


PRAYER.  227 

tual  fervent  application.  And  the  divine 
glory  is  still  pledged  to  make  the  dominion 
of  truth  and  grace  universal  and  complete  : 
Of  the  prophecies  promising  that  triumph, 
not  a  jot  or  tittle  can  fail  to  be  fulfilled; 
unless  God  can  cease  to  be  God,  or  the 
Scriptures  cease  to  be  his  word.  And  the 
souls  of  men  have  not  become  less  excel- 
lent than  when  Christ  counted  not  his 
blood  too  precious  to  be'^given  for  their 
ransom.  Nor  are  they  less  liable  to  be 
lost,  or  liable  to  less  than  an  everlasting 
perdition.  And  shall  the  knees  of  the 
saints  be  soon  wearied,  and  the  breath  of 
their  prayers  be  stifled  ?  Oh,  let  them  lift 
up  their  hands,  and  pour  forth  their  cries, 
till  they  cease  to  have  their  dwelling  in  the 
land  of  prayer. 


VIII. 


THE   SABBATH. 


It  has  often  been  observed  that  the  Fourth 
Commandment  of  the  Decalogue,  remem- 
ber the  Sabbath  Day  to  keep  it  holy,  does 
not  appoint  or  institute  the  Sabbath;  but 
rather  proves  incontestably  that  it  had  been 
instituted  before  that  commandment  was 
given.  It  supposes  the  previous  separa- 
tion of  the  day  to  sacred  purposes,  and 
enjoins  the  due  observance  of  it,  as  having 
been  so  separated.  The  Sabbath,  in  fact, 
was  made  not  for  the  Jews,  nor  for  any 
age  or  nation,  but  for  man,  with  whose  ex- 
istence it  wants  but  a  day  of  being  coeval. 
Man  was  made  on  the  sixth  dayj  on  the 


THE   SABBATH.  229 

seventh,  God  having  finished  the  heavens 
and  the  earth  and  all  the  host  of  them, 
rested  from  his  glorious  work,  and  there- 
fore blessed  the  seventh  day,  and  sanctified  it. 
We  here  find  the  period  of  the  institution 
of  the  Sabbath,  and  the  law,  which  made  its 
observance  a  part  of  the  duty  of  man, 
God's  blessing  and  hallowing  the  seventh 
day,  was  not  his  imparting  any  essential 
sanctity  or  blessing  to  the  day  itself,  as  if 
a  portion  of  time  were  a  conscious  intelli- 
gence, but  was  his  appointing  it  to  be  a 
day  of  peculiar  utility  to  mankind,  and  so 
to  be  observed  by  them  in  a  sacred  man- 
ner. The  day  was  sanctified  and  blessed, 
not  on  its  own  account,  but  man's,  for 
whose  sake  all  days  and  the  creation  itself 
were  subordinately  designed:  and  God's 
resting  on  that  day  did  not  import  that  the 
work  of  creation,  however  vast,  had  wearied 
the  Almighty,  but  that  having  accomplished 
it,  his  mind  reposed  in  what  he  had  done 
with  entire  satisfaction,  as  a  worthy,  though 
20 


230  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

inadequate,  exhibition  of  his  infinite  per- 
fection; the  record  of  which  fact,  in  the 
volume  he  has  given  us  as  our  rule  of 
practice,  is  at  once  a  most  powerful  en- 
forcement of  the  duty  of  keeping  the  Sab- 
bath, and  a  most  illustrious  example  of  the 
manner  in  which  that  duty  should  be  per- 
formed, 

II.  What  practical  regard  the  Sabbath 
received  from  mankind  before  the  giving 
of  the  law  of  Moses,  the  brief  history  of 
those  times  does  not  inform  us ;  but  that  it 
had  been  observed  by  the  holy  men  of  that 
period,  may  be  gathered  from  several  inti- 
mations ;  and  that  its  observance  was  obli- 
gatory when  the  law  was  given,  is  clearly 
evident,  as  we  have  remarked  already,  from 
the  language  of  the  precept  concerning  it : 
which  would  not  have  commanded  the  Is- 
raelites to  remember  to  keep  the  Sabbath 
holy,  if  a  Sabbath  had  not  until  that  mo- 
ment been  appointed. 

III.  And  now,  since  the  Sabbath  was  no 


THE  SABBATH.  231 

peculiarity  of  the  Jews'  religion,  but  was 
made  for  man  almost  as  soon  as  man  him- 
self was  made,  why  should  it  be  supposed 
that  with  the  aholition  of  Judaism,  the  world 
was  deprived  of  the  earliest  expression  of  its 
Maker^s  provident  love  ?  The  passing  away 
of  the  ritual  of  Moses,  no  more  involved  of 
necessity  the  abrogation  of  the  Sabbath, 
than  the  abrogation  of  marriage,  or  of 
prayer,  or  of  any  other  holy  service,  not 
belonging  peculiarly  to  that  symbolical  in- 
stitute. If  the  new  dispensation  does  not 
unequivocally  disown  a  Sabbath,  the  world 
has  no  more  cause  to  think  this  divine  or- 
dinance disannulled,  than  that  God  has  dis- 
annulled the  covenant  respecting  the  day 
and  the  night,  or  the  seasons  of  the  year. 

IV.  The  importance  of  keeping  the  Sab- 
bath, not  as  pertaining  to  Judaism,  but  to  es- 
sential and  indispensable  holiness,  is  manifest 
from  the  Jewish  Scriptures  themselves. 
The  fact  that  we  find  a  precept  enjoining 
the  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  among  the 


232  r£:ligion  of  the  bible. 

te?i  commandments,  those  unchangeable  laws 
of  the  moral  kingdom,  which  though  regis- 
tered in  the  Mosaic  code,  were  written  on 
the  heart  of  man  when  he  was  created, 
and  were  gloriously  distinguished  from  the 
carnal  ordinances  designed  for  the  Jews 
only,  by  being  proclaimed  out  of  the  midst 
of  fire,  with  God's  own  voice,  and  written 
on  tables  of  stone,  with  God's  own  finger, 
seems  to  intimate  the  keeping  of  the  Sab- 
bath to  be  no  part  of  a  mere  ceremonial 
service,  which,  after  awhile,  was  to  cease 
and  pass  away,  but  a  branch  of  that  sub- 
stantial holiness,  the  necessity  for  which  re- 
mains the  same  through  all  the  changes  and 
circumstances  of  man's  condition.  This 
accords  with  the  voice  of  the  prophets, 
who  while  they  speak  of  mere  ceremonial 
observances  as  being  in  themselves  of  no 
use,  and  as  proving  a  snare  if  confided  in, 
as  was  too  commonly  done,  insist  largely 
upon  the  keeping  of  the  Sabbath,  as  com- 
prising virtually  the  whole   of  practical  re- 


THE   SABBATH.  233 

ligion,  and  as  arbitrating  the  character  and 
destiny  of  man,  "  If  thou  turn  away  thy 
foot  from  the  Sabbath,  from  doing  thy  plea- 
sure on  my  holy  day,  and  call  the  Sabbath 
a  delight,  the  holy  of  the  Lord,  honourable ; 
and  shalt  honour  him,  not  doing  thine  own 
ways,  nor  finding  thine  own  pleasure,  nor 
speaking  thine  own  words,  then  shalt  thou 
delight  thyself  in  the  Lord,  and  I  will  cause 
thee  to  ride  upon  the  high  places  of  the 
earth,  and  feed  thee  with  the  heritage  of 
Jacob  thy  father,  for  the  mouth  of  the 
Lord  hath  spoken  it."  When  or  where 
has  God  so  spoken  in  regard  to  any  merely 
ceremonial  service  ?  The  due  observance 
of  the  Sabbath,  here  has  promise  of  the 
divine  complacency  in  its  highest  degrees, 
and  it  is  clearly  implied,  that  this  compla- 
ceny  will  be  withheld  from  the  violators  of 
the  Sabbath.  Behold  the  grand  importance 
of  this  appointment,  and  how  they  reproach 
it,  who  by  making  it  vanish  away  with  the 
ritual  of  Moses,  place  it  on  a  level  with 
that  shadowy  institute. 
20* 


234  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

V.  Nor  do  the  Scriptures  of  the  old  tes- 
tament merely  distinguish  and  set  apart  the 
Sabbath,  in  this  manner,  from  the  peculiari- 
ties of  the  system  of  Moses  ;  they  also  deci- 
sively witness  to  its  outliving  that  system^ 
and  passing  after  its  dissolution  into  the  last 
and  more  glorious  dispensation  of  the  gospel. 
After  God  had  said  by  the  prophet  Isaiah, 
(chap.  Ivi.  1 .)  "  My  salvation  is  near  to  come, 
and  my  righteousness  to  be  revealed,"  —  re- 
vealed as  it  was  under  the  gospel,  —  he  add- 
ed, "  blessed  is  the  man  that  keepeth  the 
Sabbath  from  polluting  it ;  and  keepeth  his 
hand  from  doing  any  evil."  Why  is  the 
observance  of  the  Sabbath  commanded  in 
this  connexion,  but  to  intimate  its  eminent 
congeniality  and  oneness  with  the  simple 
spirit  of  the  evangelical  economy  ?  In  the 
next  verses,  a  place  in  God's  house,  and  a 
name  better  than  of  sons  and  daughters  are 
promised  to  persons,  who,  by  the  Jewish 
ritual,  were  excluded  from  the  congregation 
of  the  Lord :  "  Neither  let  the  ssn  of  the 


THE  SABBATH.  235 

stranger  that  hath  joined  himself  to  the  Lord, 
speak,  saying :  The  Lord  hath  utterly  sepa- 
rated me  from  his'  people :  neither  let  the 
eunuch  say,  behold  I  am  a  dry  tree :  For  thus 
saith  the  Lord,  unto  the  eunuchs  that  keep  my 
Sabbaths  —  even  unto  them  will  I  give  in  my 
house  and  within  my  loalls,  a  place  and  a 
name  better  than  of  sons  and  of  daughters ;"  — 
A  time  of  course  was  referred  to,  when  the 
Jewish  ritual  should  be  superseded,  as  it 
was,  by  the  new  dispensation ;  but  the  ut- 
most stress  is  laid  upon  the  observance  of 
the  Sabbath,  as  at  that  time  indispensable. 
For  the  persons  spoken  of  were  to  be 
blessed  as  above  mentioned,  only  as  keep- 
ing God-s  Sabbaths,  and  choosing  the  things 
that  please  him.  The  prophet  proceeds  in 
the  following  verses,  to  extend  the  fulness 
of  the  divine  favour  to  "  the  sons  of  the 
stranger,"  the  Gentiles  indiscriminately,  of 
whom  it  is  written,  "  even  them  will  I 
bring  to  my  holy  mountain,  and  make  them 
joyful  in  my  house  of  prayer ;  their  burnt- 


236  RELIGION  OP  THE  BIBLE. 

offerings  and  their  sacrifices  shall  be  ac- 
cepted upon  mine  altar;  for  mine  house 
shall  be  called  a  house  of  prayer  for  all 
people."  Yet  was  it  as,  "keeping  the 
Sabbath  from  polluting  it,"  that  this  mercy 
was  to  be  shown  to  the  Gentiles.  The 
Sabbath,  therefore,  is  plainly  declared  in 
the  Old  Testament,  to  be  a  perpetual  ordi- 
nance, the  observance  of  which  would  be 
required  under  the  most  solemn  sanctions, 
of  those  who  should  live  in  the  times  of 
the  gospel. 

VI.  It  was  agreeable  to  the  reason  of 
THINGS,  that  such  a  difference  should  be 
made  between  the  law  of  the  Sabbath,  and 
the  ritual  institutions  of  the  Jews.  Those  in- 
stitutions being  typical,  —  mere  shadows  of 
good  things  to  come  —  became  unprofitable 
and  unmeaning,  when  the  antetypes,  the 
good  things  themselves,  appeared.  It  was 
expedient  they  should  come  to  an  end; 
but  not  so  the  Sabbath.  What  called  for 
that  appointment  at  first,  calls  as  urgently 


THE    SABBATH. 


237 


still.  A  Sabbath  was  never  more  proper  in 
itself,  and  surely  never  more  needed  than 
now.  Has  it  ceased  to  be  desirable  or 
right,  that  mankind  should  rest  from  la- 
bour, one  day  out  of  seven,  that  they  may 
give  themselves  to  holy  meditations  and 
services?  Why  has  this  observance  be- 
come improper  and  unreasonable?  And 
if  still  reasonable  and  proper,  why  should 
the  Divine  law  which  first  required  it,  have 
been  annulled  by  the  gospel  ? 

VII.  But  the  plea  not  of  reasonahleness 
only,  but  also  of  necessity,  may  be  urged 
in  favor  of  the  continuance  of  the  Sabbath. 
Such  high  ground  in  this  argument  had, 
perhaps,  been  untenable,  if  man  had  not 
fallen.  Though  a  Sabbath,  even  in  that 
case,  would  have  been  proper  and  useful, 
perhaps  it  would  not  have  been  indispen- 
sably necessary  to  mankind.  Possibly  they 
might  have  kept  themselves  in  the  fear  and 
service  of  God  without  a  Sabbath.  But 
could  the  fallen  race  have  dispensed  with 


238  RELIGION  OP  THE  BIBLE. 

one?  As  far  back  into  the  past  as  our 
knowledge  reaches,  the  Sabbath  is  seen 
to  be  the  grand  instrument  of  whatever 
hoUness  has  at  any  time  existed  amongst 
men.  Need  we  say  what  has  been  the 
character  of  those  portions  of  the  human 
family  which  have  had  no  Sabbaths  a- 
mongst  them  ?  Need  we  describe  the  mo- 
ral state  of  the  heathen  nations,  and  what 
those  nations  have  always  been  ?  What 
did  France  become  when  she  abolished 
the  Sabbath  ?  What  would  quickly  befall 
this  country,  distinguished  as  it  is  by  intel- 
ligence and  virtue,  if  the  Sabbath  should 
cease  from  among  us  ?  When  would  this 
earth  become  the  habitation  of  righteous- 
ness, or  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of 
God  as  the  waters  cover  the  seas,  if 
the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  should  be 
henceforth  discontinued  ?  To  allege  that 
Christianity  abrogated  the  Sabbath,  is  to 
make  Christianity  inimical  to  itself;  to 
make  it  disarm  itself  of  the  only  means  by 


THE    SABBATH.  239 

which  it  can  prevail ;  to  make  it  an  unwise  — 
a  preposterous,  self-ruining  system; — ad- 
verse to  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy,  an  en- 
emy of  all  righteousness,  the  corrupter  and 
destroyer  of  mankind.  The  direct  aim  of 
Christianity  is  the  world's  complete  reform- 
ation; its  transformation  into  the  likeness 
of  heaven.  With  such  an  object  in  view, 
it  were  natural  to  expect  that  it  would  re- 
move out  of  the  way  whatever  had  restrict- 
ed spiritual  privilege,  and  impeded  the  uni- 
versal extension  of  the  true  religion ;  but 
that  it  would  repeal  the  law  of  the  Sabbath, 
or  abate  in  the  least,  the  sanctity  and  sa- 
credness  of  that  mightiest  instrument  of 
moral  influence,  were  no  more  to  be  ex- 
pected than  that  it  would  publish  an  inten- 
tion of  defeating  its  own  purpose,  and  the 
highest  and  all-commanding  purpose  of 
Providence. 

VIII.  What  then  has  led  some  men  to 
think  that  so  strange  a  thing  was  done  at 
the  introduction  of  Christianity  ?     There 


240  RELIGION   OP   THE   BIBLE. 

are  men  of  this  opinion;  men  who  cannot 
deny  the  utihty,  nay  the  necessity  of  a  day 
of  rest,  when  the  rites  of  rehgion  should  be 
solemnized ;  but  who  do  deny  that  the  sa- 
cred observance  of  the  Sabbath   is   now 
obligatory  upon  the  world,  as  a  matter  of 
divine  commandment.     What  is  it  that  has 
led  them  into  this,  as  it  seems  to  us,  self- 
confating  belief?     Self-confuting,  we  can- 
not but  regard  it,  because  if  the  excellence, 
the  necessity  of  the    day  be  granted,  it 
surely  is  not  also  true,  that  God  has  with- 
drawn from  it  the  protection  of  his  au- 
thority, and  invited  men  to  despise  it  hy 
revoking  that  ancient  law,  which  gave  it  all 
its  sacredness.     What  has  originated  this 
opinion  ?     Does  the  gospel  say,  anywhere, 
that  the  Sabbath  had  come   to  its  end  ? 
Did  Christ  show  any  disregard  to  this  hal- 
lowed institution?     He  did  indeed  claim 
to  be  Lord  of  the  Sabbath,  but  he  exer- 
cised his  authority  over  it,  not  by  destroy- 
ing, but  by  rescuing  it  from  the  abuses  of 


THE  SABBATH.  241 

the  Pharisees,  who  seem  to  have  held,  that 
man  was  rather  made  for  the  Sabbath,  than 
the  Sabbath  for  man.  Though  Lord  of 
the  Sabbath,  he  set  us  a  perfect  example 
of  observing  it;  he  kept  it  holy  himself, 
according  to  the  commandment,  and  in  all 
his  instructions  concerning  it,  he  assumed 
its  sanctity  as  a  thing  unquestionable  and 
unnecessary  to  be  proved.  Did  the  Apos- 
tles of  Christ,  the  anointed  ministers  of 
the  new  dispensation,  either  by  their  prac- 
tice or  their  teaching,  make  void  the  law 
of  God,  in  regard  to  the  Sabbath-day  ? 
The  history  of  their  conduct  represents 
them  as  always  keeping  the  Jewish  Sab- 
bath, along  with  other  Jews;  and  in  all 
their  writings  there  is  not  the  slightest 
hint,  that  to  sanctify  the  Sabbath  was  no 
longer  a  part  of  the  rehgion  of  man. 
Paul  does  indeed  censure  the  Galatians  for 
observing  days  and  months,  and  times,  and 
years ;  and  he  also  cautions  the  Colossi- 
ans  against  being  ensnared  by  false  teach- 
21 


242  RELIGION  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

ers,  who  would  judge,  that  is,  condemn 
them  for  not  conforming  to  their  own  anti- 
christian  principles,  in  respect  of  meats  and 
drinks,  of  holy  days  and  new  moons,  and 
Sabbaths ;  but  he  says  nothing  in  these 
places  against  the  law  of  the  Sabbath,  but 
only  witnesses  against  a  spirit  of  self-righte- 
ousness, directly  the  reverse  of  the  whole 
tendency  and  design  of  the  gospel.  The 
Pharisees,  as  appears  from  our  Saviour's 
discourses,  held  to  great  abuses  of  the 
Sabbath,  of  which  they  made  high  merit ; 
these  abuses  the  Judaizers, — children  of  the 
Pharisees,  who  would  be  also  called  Christi- 
an teachers, — laboured  to  introduce  into  the 
apostolical  churches,  along  with  many  other 
like  things,  belonging  to  the  same  system : 
And  Paul,  jealous  for  the  purity  of  the  gos- 
pel, would  secure  his  converts  against  the 
designs  of  these  men.  But  not  a  sentence 
has  either  he  or  any  other  apostle,  written 
to  signify  the  abrogation  of  the  fourth 
commandment  of  the  Decalogue.     On  the 


THE  SABBATH.  243 

contrary,  by  their  manner  of  quoting  the 
Decalogue^  which  they  often  do  quote  in 
confirmation  of  their  doctrine,  the  Apostles 
manifestly  inculcate  the  unchangeable  obli- 
gation of  every  precept  it  contains.  For 
while  they  refer  for  such  a  purpose,  to  that 
document,  without  stating  an  exception^  they 
clearly  admit  the  authority  of  one  part  of 
it,  as  much  as  another,  and  do  in  this 
way,  virtually  republish  the  fourth  com- 
mandment as  a  branch  of  the  law  of  Christ. 
IX.  But  a  change  has  taken  place  as  to  the 
day,  and  this  to  some  persons  has  involved 
our  subject  in  difficulty.  We  wish  to  bring 
the  sanction  of  the  fourth  commandment 
in  favour  of  our  Sabbath,  although  the  Sab- 
bath which  existed  when  that  command- 
ment was  given,  was  the  seventh,  and  ours 
is  the  first  day  of  the  week.  True;  but 
that  circumstance  makes  nothing  against 
us.  The  Sabbath  in  force  when  the  fourth 
commandment  was  given,  was  the  seventh 
day,  but  that  commandment  did  not  make 


244  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

that  day  the  Sabbath,  The  Jews  had  re- 
ceived another  law,  appointing  the  seventh 
day  as  their  Sabbath,  the  record  of  which 
occurs  in  the  16th  chapter  of  Exodus, 
among  directions  respecting  the  gathering 
of  the  manna.  The  fourth  commandment 
given  afterwards,  requires  the  previously 
designated  day  to  be  kept  holy,  not  by  desig- 
nating the  day,  but  by  requiring  the  Sab- 
bath, whatever  that  day  was  or  might  be,  to 
be  so  kept.  It  does  determine  that  the 
day  shall  occur  as  often  as  once  in  seven ; 
but  whether  that  day  is  to  be  the  first,  or 
the  seventh,  or  any  other  day  of  the  week, 
it  does  not  determine.  If,  at  a  period  sub- 
sequent to  the  publication  of  the  Decalogue, 
a  law  had  been  given  to  the  Jews,  chang- 
ing the  day,  the  fourth  commandment 
would  have  required  the  sacred  observance 
of  that  day ;  provided  it  was  made  to  oc- 
cur, one  day  in  seven,  the  next  day  after 
six  working  days ;  the  only  legislation  we 
find  in  this  commandment  as  to  time.     If 


THE   SABBATH.  245 

then  the  change  of  the  day  made  under  the 
gospel,  was  made  by  due  authority,  the 
sanction  of  the  fourth  commandment  does 
at  this  moment  enforce  the  observance  of 
the  Christian  Sabbath. 

X.  How  then  was  the  change  effected? 
By  the  Apostles  themselves,  in  a  manner 
specially  marked  with  wisdom.  They  did 
not  unnecessarily  awaken  Jewish  animosity 
on  the  subject,  by  giving  out  a  formal  pre- 
cept in  respect  to  the  change,  but  guided 
by  that  Holy  Spirit,  whose  will  they  exe- 
cuted, they  prudently  observed  themselves, 
and  required  their  converts  to  observe,  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  the  day  of  their  Lord's 
resurrection;  not  forbidding  at  the  same 
time,  the  observance  of  the  seventh  day. 
That  this  was  the  manner  of  the  change, 
appears  clearly  from  the  latter  part  of  the 
New  Testament,  which,  while  it  relates 
instances  of  their  keeping  the  Jewish 
Sabbath,  informs  us  that  their  own  re- 
ligious assemblies,  were  from  tlie  beginning 
21* 


246  *    RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

of  the  new  dispensation  held  on  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  which,  as  being  the  day 
of  Christ's  glorious  triumph  over  the  pow- 
ers of  darkness,  was  called  the  hordes  Day, 
the  most  honourable  style  which  could  have 
been  given  to  it.  Nor  was  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  Apostles  unattended  by  decisive 
and  most  signal  proofs  of  the  Divine  appro- 
bation. What  religious  meetings  were 
ever  so  marked  as  theirs,  by  the  tokens  of 
the  Divine  presence  ?  How  could  the  Jew- 
ish converts  question  that  they  were  obey- 
ing the  will  of  God,  by  yielding  themselves 
to  apostolical  direction,  in  this  high  case, 
when  that  direction  had  so  clearly  the 
sanction  of  Heaven  ?  Thus  it  was  that 
the  transition  took  place.  The  seventh 
day  was  not  legislated  upon,  but  left  to  the 
natural  course  of  things,  while  the  high  im- 
portance attached  to  the  first  day,  by  apos- 
tolical practice  and  command,  and  the  con- 
current attestations  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  se- 
cured it  paramount,  and  very  soon  exclu- 


THE  SABBATH.  247 

sive  attention,  as  the  divinely  designated 
Sabbath  of  the  Christian  Church.  If  to 
any  one,  this  account  of  the  change  seems 
less  evincive  of  that  Divine  authority  which 
we  plead  for  it,  than  a  positive  law  would 
have  been,  directly  annulling  the  former 
Sabbath  and  substituting  the  present,  such 
a  person,  perhaps,  does  not  duly  consi- 
der what  unnecessary  evils  might  have  ori- 
ginated from  this  peremptory  measure,  ope- 
rating upon  strong  Jewish  prejudice  already 
elicited  in  too  many  forms  against  the  infant 
Church  of  Christ,  Nor  does  he  bear  in 
mind  how  inconsistent  with  God's  wonted 
gentleness  and  indulgence  towards  harmless 
prejudice,  would  have  been  that  abrupt 
and  violent  way  of  proceeding.  If,  as  we 
have  shown,  the  original  law  requiring  a 
Sabbath  to  be  observed  was  unchangeable, 
and  if  the  Apostles  of  Christ,  acting  under 
a  Divine  commission,  observed,  and  re- 
quired Christians  to  observe,  a  different 
day  from  that  which  had  been  kept  by  the 
Jews,  the  evidence  of  a  Divine  warrant  for 


248  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

the  observanee  of  that  day  is  complete ; 
and  why  exact  evidence  in  another  form 
inconsistent  with  the  genius  of  the  Divine 
government  ? 

XI.  Such  is  the  proof  that  a  change 
was  duly  made  :  And  now  if  we  consider 
the  reasons  for  a  change,  the  propriety  of 
the  measure  will  be  seen ;  and  it  will 
appear  that  there  would  have  been  cause 
for  skeptical  wonder  if  it  had  not  taken 
place.  The  ancient  Sabbath  commemo- 
rated the  creation  of  the  world  ;  but  tlie 
new  creation  is  so  much  more  excellent 
than  the  former,  that  God,  speaking  by  the 
prophet  Isaiah,  says,  —  "  Behold,  I  create 
new  heavens  and  a  new  earth,  and  the  for- 
mer shall  not  be  remembered  nor  come  into 
mind."  Shall  no  day  then  be  observed  in 
commemoration  of  this  creation,  but  the 
old  Sabbath,  which  brought  the  first  crea- 
tion into  mind  every  seventh  day  continue 
to  be  kept  ?  Shall  the  less  receive  perpetual 
celebration,  and  the  greater  none  at  all  ? 
But  the  Jews  kept  their  Sabbath,  in  memo- 


THE   SABBATH. 


249 


ry  not  only  of  the  creation,  but  of  their 
own  emancipation  from  Egyptian  bondage, 
as  we  learn  from  the  repetition  of  the  Dec- 
alogue in  chapter  5th  of  Deuteronomy. 
"  And  remember  that  thou  wast  a  servant 
in  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  that  the  Lord  thy 
God  brought  thee  out  thence,  through  a 
mighty  hand  and  by  a  stretched-out  arm ; 
therefore  the  Lord  thy  God  commanded  thee 
to  keep  the  Sabbath-day:'  Now  shall  Chris- 
tians keep  a  Sabbath  which  commemo- 
rates the  Exodus  of  the  Israelites,  but  none 
in  celebration  of  their  own  and  the  world's 
redemption  from  eternal  bondage  to  sin 
and  Satan  ?  Was  it  not  therefore  expedi- 
ent that  there  should  be  a  change  of  the 
day,  —  a  change  which,  while  it  served  to 
keep  the  world  mindful  of  the  most  glo- 
rious of  all  events,  our  Lord's  resurrection 
from  the  dead,  did  not  preclude  due  medi- 
tation of  those  other  two  events  which  the 
Sabbath  formerly  commemorated  ?  Chris- 
tians on  their  Sabbath  may  and  should  still 


250  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

refresh  their  minds  with  holy  recollections 
of  the  creation,  and  of  Israel's  deliverance 
out  of  Egypt.  It  is  fit  and  natural  that 
they  should  do  so  ;  it  is  still  the  Sabbath 
which  they  keep  ;  an  institution  first  de- 
signed in  honour  of  those  events,  which  it 
should  still  call  to  mind,  though  it  now 
have  chief  reference  to  another.  But  while 
the  Christian  Sabbath  may  yet  subserve  the 
purposes  of  the  Jewish,  the  Jewish  could 
not  answer  the  end  of  the  Christian.  On 
every  account  therefore,  a  change  seems  to 
have  been  expedient ;  and  in  this,  as  in  other 
things,  God  commends  to  our  understand- 
ings as  equitable  and  wise,  what  he  enacts 
and  ordains  as  law  to  his  kingdom. 

XII.  The  result  therefore  is  this  :  that 
the  original  law  of  the  Sabbath,  designed 
to  be  unrepealable  and  perpetual,  and  not 
at  all  aflfected  by  the  change  of  the  day, 
which  took  place  at  the  beginning  of  the 
new  dispensation,  as  was  expedient  and 
proper, —  that  law  of  the  Most  High, —  is  at 


THE    SABBATH.  251 

this  day  in  force  over  all  the  sons  of  men  ; 
and  the  Christian  Sabbath  is  not  an  insti- 
tution resting  on  the  authority  of  men  or 
of  custom,  or  allowed  because  convenient 
and  useful  to  society,  but  is  an  institution 
strictly  Divine  ;  appointed  by  Divine  com- 
mand, and  guarded  by  all  that  is  sacred 
and  terrible  in  the  majesty  of  the  eternal 
King.  —  And  has  he  not  placed  before  the 
eyes  of  men  sufficient  tokens  of  the  sa- 
credness  of  this  institution  ?  Do  not  his 
blessings  and  his  curses,  actually  dis- 
pensed, proclaim  aloud  the  divinity  of  the 
Christian  Sabbath  ?  If  the  moral  history 
of  Sabbath-breakers,  whether  individuals 
or  communities,  and  if  the  moral  history 
also  of  those  who  keep  the  Sabbath  from 
polluting  it,  could  be  fully  recited,  what 
would  be  heard  but  the  thunderings  of  the 
Divine  indignation  against  the  former,  and 
the  breathings  of  the  Divine  complacency 
and  delight  towards  the  latter  ?  There  is 
no  truth,  however  perfectly  revealed,  that 


262  RELIGION  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

men  may  not  remain  ignorant  of,  if  they 
will  not  consider  its  evidences ;  they  may 
thus  remain  insensible  to  the  very  being  of 
God ;  and  they  may  in  the  same  manner 
remain  doubtful  whether  the  Christian 
Sabbath  is  an  institution  which  God  claims 
for  his  own.  But  if  they  would  listen  to 
the  testimony  of  facts  in  respect  to  this 
matter,  they  would  find  it  impossible  to 
retain  a  shadow  of  incredulity. 

XIII.  Having  evinced  the  sacred  cha- 
racter of  the  Sabbath  as  a  perpetual  ordi- 
nance of  God,  the  right  mariner  of  keeping 
it  is  also  ascertained.  If  the  Christian  Sab- 
bath were  a  matter  of  mere  expediency 
and  convenience,  originating  in  the  com- 
mon agreement  of  the  first  disciples,  and 
having  nothing  but  long  custom  to  entitle 
it  to  reverence,  there  would  be  room  for 
various  opinions,  as  to  the  way  in  which  it 
should  be  observed  ;  and  perhaps  the  laxity 
on  this  subject  for  which  some  contend 
would  in  that  case  be  defensible.     If  con- 


THE    SABBATH.  253 

venience  were  the  author  of  the  Institution, 
why  should  it  not  also  be  the  rule  of  its  ob- 
servance ?  And  that  being  admitted,  rec- 
reation and  even  secular  labours,  might  be 
entirely  consistent  and  commendable.  But 
if  there  has  been  no  repeal  of  the  law  of 
the  Sabbath,  if  no  change  has  been  made, 
except  simply  to  substitute  another  day, 
then  whatever  degrees  of  spirituality  were 
formerly  included  in  the  sanctification  of 
the  Sabbath,  are  included  in  it  still ;  and 
the  prophet  Isaiah  is  an  authorized  preach- 
er to  us  on  this  subject.  If  tJiou  turn  away 
thy  foot  from  the  Sabbath,  from  doing  thy 
pleasure  on  my  holy  day,  and  call  the  Sab- 
bath a  delight,  the  holy  of  the  Lord  honour- 
able, and  shall  honour  him,  not  doing  thine 
own  ways,  nor  finding  thi?ie  own  pleasure,  nor 
speaking  thine  own  words,  —  this  will  fulfil 
the  commandment  concerning  the  way  of 
observing  the  Sabbath,  It  comports  with 
the  cosign  and  spirit  of  the  day,  as  our  Sa- 
viour has  taught  us,  to  do  good,  that  is,  to 
22 


254  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

do  works  of  mercy,  on  the  Sabbath  ;  which 
proves  the  lawfulness  of  the  Sunday-school 
system,  and  of  the  labours  of  the  ministry ; 
but  to  make  the  Sabbath  the  season  for 
pastime  and  sensual  indulgence,  is  to  pro- 
fane the  holy  day  of  God  ;  and  though 
temporal  penalties  are  not  now  the  conse- 
quences of  such  iniquity,  there  is  an  invisi- 
ble eye  which  sees  it,  and  there  is  an  in- 
visible hand  which  will  punish  it ;  and  bet- 
ter that  the  Sabbath-breaker  were  now 
stoned  to  death  like  him  of  old,  than  bear 
what  awaits  him  when  the  day  of  vengeance 
comes.  —  Recreations,  it  has  been  said, 
ought  to  be  allowed  to  one  class  of  the 
people,  —  those  who  pass  the  week  at  labour 
in  the  cities  ;  but  the  question  is,  does  the 
law  of  the  Sabbath  permit  them  ?  If  that 
law  is  against  them,  then  to  maintain  their 
propriety,  is  to  make  God  tyrannical,  and 
to  aim  to  depose  him  from  the  government 
of  the  world.  Besides,  who  does  not  see, 
that  excursions  for  recreation  imply  the 


THE  SABBATH.  255 

labours  of  many  hands,  and  the  making  a 
merchandise  of  the  day  ? 

XIV.     It  is  not  in  God's  behalf  only, 
but  man's   equally,   that   we  contend  for 
the  perpetuity  of  the  l.w  of  the  Sabbath. 
The  highest  interests  of  this  world  are  in- 
volved in  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  day. 
Abolish  that  day,  and  the  light  of  the  world 
is  quenched,  and  its  hope  perished.     Reli- 
gion is  gone,  virtue  is  gone,    freedom  is 
gone,  —  all  is  gone,  that  now  constitutes  the 
elements  of  human  dignity  and  happiness ; 
and  the  overthrow  of  the  world  itself,  hast- 
ens to  its  period.     Especially  is  the  hope 
of  our  own  country  bound  up  in  the  Sab- 
bath.    Where  the  people  exercise  the  sov- 
ereignty, government  must  be  corrupt,  if 
the   people   be    so,    in    exact   proportion. 
Does  it  need  then  the  gift  of  prophecy  to 
foretel,  that  if  the  holy   Sabbath   be   not 
sustained  in  these  united,  happy,  and  ex- 
alted States,  our  free  institutions  will  fall, 
and  our  fair  and  glorious  civil  fabric,  the 


256  RELIGION   OP  THE   BIBLE. 

hope  of  other  nations,  sink  into  ruin  with 
the  repuhlics  of  ancient  days  ?  And  who 
that  considers  that  onr  territory  is  capable 
of  sustaining  not  less  than  three  hundred 
milhons  of  men,  and  the  influence  which  a 
virtuous  and  free  nation  so  populous,  would 
exert  upon  the  world,  can  avoid  feeling  as 
if  the  heavens  had  lost  the  sun,  at  the 
thought  of  such  a  nation  becoming  a  mass 
of  moral  putrescence  in  the  earth  ?  What 
then  is  patriotism,  if  it  be  an  enemy  to  the 
Sabbath  of  the  Lord  ?  A  name,  a  boast,  a 
lying  vanity.  Give  us  not  the  patriotism 
which  loves  our  country  in  word  and 
tongue :  Give  us  not  the  patriotism  which 
passes  off  the  love  of  glory  as  the  ruling 
passion  of  the  patriot :  But  give  us  that  pat- 
riotism which  stands  by  the  holy  Sabbath, 
bearing  up  that  real  pillar  of  the  State, 
amidst  the  scorn  and  contradiction  of  men, 
who  have  no  eyes  to  see  the  indissoluble 
connexion  between  the  ruin  and  the  irre- 
ligion  of  republics. 


IX. 


RESTRAINTS   ON   DIVINE   INFLUENCE. 


"  It  may  be  observed,  that  from  the  fall  of 
man  to  our  day,  the  work  of  Redemption 
in  its  effect,  has  mainly  been  carried  on 
by  remarkable  communications  of  the  Spirit 
of  God.  Though  there  be  a  more  con- 
stant influence  of  God's  Spirit  always  in 
some  degree  attending  his  ordinances,  yet 
the  way  in  which  the  greatest  things  have 
been  done,  has  always  been,  by  remarkable 
effusions  at  special  seasons  of  mercy."* 
Was  that  the  way  in  which  the  greatest 
things  had  been  done,  from  the  fall  of  man 
to  the  day    of  Edwards  ?     And   would  a 

*  President  Edwards. 

22* 


258 


RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 


Christian  philosopher  hence  infer,  that  re- 
markable effusions  of  the  Spirit,  at  special 
seasons  of  mercy,  would  cease  to  be  the 
chief  means  of  promoting  the  work  of  Re- 
demption; and  the  future  be,  in  this  re- 
spect, wholly  different  from  the  past  ?  This 
inference,  as  applied  to  the  period  from 
Edwards  until  now,  would  to  all  observa- 
tion be  contradicted  by  fact.  Things  have 
proceeded  since  the  time  of  Edwards,  as 
they  had  done  before ;  and  why  should  we 
expect  they  will  proceed  otherwise  in  time 
to  come  ?  Rather,  should  we  not  expect 
that  "  special  seasons  of  mercy,"  times  of 
refreshing  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord, 
which  have  been  so  greatly  multiplied  in 
our  age,  will  become  yet  more  and  more 
frequent,  until  there  shall  cease  to  be  in- 
tervals between  them,  and  they  shall  run 
into  one  another,  and  flow  together,  in  one 
long  and  still  spreading  revival,  which  shall 
result  in  the  conversion  of  the  world  ? 
"  It  has  been  inquired  whether  a  more 


RESTRAINTS   ON   DIVINE   INFLUENCE.  269 

gradual  dispensation  of  the  Spirit,  were  not 
better  than  these  sudden  outpourings  ?    But 
we  have  been  accustomed  to  feel  that  God 
is  the  best  judge  in  this  matter,  and  that  man 
cannot  make   a  revival  either  gradual  or 
sudden.     When  he  gives  us  drop  by  drop, 
we  are  thankful :   and  when  the  cloud  of 
mercy  above   bursts   and   pours    down  a 
flood  at  once,  we  dare  not  request  him  to 
stay  his  hand  ;  wo  cawnot  but  exult  and  re- 
joice in  the  exuberance  of  his  mercy.    Nor 
can  we  perceive  how  it  is  possible  that 
800,000,000  of  souls,  or  any  considerable 
part  of  this  number,  can  be  washed  from 
their  sins,  within  the   most   distant   time 
to   which   the   millennium   can  be  defer- 
red according  to  prediction,  by  single  drops 
falhng  in  such   slow  and   deliberate  suc- 
cession as   should   not   excite    the   fears, 
and  should  satisfy  the  prudence  of  some 
apparently  very  good  men.     We  doubt  not 
that  greater  revivals  than  have  been,  are 
indispensable  to  save  our  nation  and  to 


260  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

save  the  world,  by  giving  universal  and 
saving  empire  to  the  kingdom  of  Christ; 
and  as  clouds  thicken  and  dangers  press, 
we  look  for  them  with  strong  confidence, 
and  with  the  increased  urgency  of  unutter- 
able desire."* 

It  cannot,  we  think,  be  reasonably  ques- 
tioned that  Revivals  of  Religion  are  our 
only  hope  for  our  country  and  the  world. 
But  there  is  a  question  relating  to  this 
subject  which  ought  most  deeply  to  inte- 
rest every  benevolent  and  every  patriotic 
heart,  especially  at  the  present  day,  name- 
ly, —  How  may  Revivals  be  hindered  or  pro- 
moted ?  They  are  the  effects  of  the  gra- 
cious influences  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  but 
yet  we  know  by  observation,  that  usually, 
they  are  neither  granted  nor  withheld,  ex- 
cept in  connexion  with  an  agency  exerted 
by  Christians,  adapted  to  procure  or  pre- 
clude them.  This  is  precisely  what  we 
should  expect  from  such  passages  of  Scrip- 

*  Dr.  Beccher. 


RESTRAINTS   ON   DIVINE  INFLUENCE, 


261 


ture  as  the  following:  ''Prepare  ye  the 
way  of  the  Lord,  make  his  paths  straight. 
Cast  ye  up,  cast  ye  up,  prepare  the  way; 
take  up  the  stumbling  blocks  out  of  the 
way  of  the  people."  "Go  through,  go 
through  the  gates ;  prepare  ye  the  way  of 
the  people ;  cast  up,  cast  up  the  highway, 
gather  out  the  stones."  It  is  the  province 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  revive  the  work  of 
God;  but  it  is  tlie  province  of  Christians 
to  prepare  the  Spirit's  way  by  removing 
obstructions  to  the  free  operation  of  his 
reviving  power.  What  are  such  obstruc- 
tions, it  is  our  present  object  to  show. 

If  it  were  not  out  of  the  just  range  of  our 
purpose  to  advert  to  the  opposition  of  the 
world  to  Revivals,  we  might  dwell  long  on 
this  topic  ;  for,  averse  as  the  spirit  of  the 
world  is  to  ordinary  exemplifications  of  the 
spirit  of  the  gospel,  it  is  friendship  itself 
towards  these,  compared  with  what  it  often 
becomes,  when  inflamed  by  the  prevalence 
of  powerful  Revivals  of  Religion.     Nor  is 


262  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

this  surprising,  since  there  is  nothing  which 
presents  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  in  such 
perfect  and  intense  hostihty  to  worldhness. 
But  Christians  are  not  answerable  for  the 
world's  opposition  to  Revivals ;  nd^r  can  they 
hinder  it.  Nor  can  that  opposition  much 
hinder  the  progress  of  Revivals,  Let  Chris- 
tians but  take  due  heed  to  themselves,  that 
they  give  the  world  no  occasion  for  oppo- 
sition, by  mismanagement  or  otherwise,  and 
men  may  scoff  and  rail  as  they  please  ;  the 
effusions  of  the  Spirit,  we  may  hope,  will, 
by  such  means,  be  rather  increased  than 
restrained. 

The  obstacles  to  revivals  proper  to  be  no- 
ticed here,  maybe  comprehended  in  these 
four  divisions  :  Those  which  arise  — yrom 
the  character  of  the  Christian  world  at  large  ; 
from  the  character  of  the  Ministry  ;  from  the 
character  of  Particular  Churches  ;  and  from 
the  character  of  Former  Revivals. 

I.  A  spiritual  survey  of  the  state  of  the 
general  church,  cannot  but  make  the  im- 


RESTRAINTS   ON   DIVINE   INFLUENCE.  263 

pression  on  every  enlarged  and  intelligent 
mind,  that  the  followers  ofChrist,  of  almost 
all  denominations,  are  chiefly  engaged 
about  other  business  than  that  which  ousht 
to  absorb  their  attention.  That  business, 
unquestionably,  is  the  salvation  of  men, 
the  conversion  of  the  world.  This  was 
the  business  which  brought  Christ  himself 
into  the  world,  and  which,  when  he  was 
about  to  leave  the  world,  he  committed  to 
the  hands  of  his  disciples,  of  all  generations, 
as  the  high  purpose  of  their  existence. 
His  first  disciples,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  of  faith,  entered  on  this  work,  and 
spent  their  lives  and  their  all  in  performing 
it.  They  planted  churches  in  almost  every 
part  of  the  civihzed  world.  But  nearly 
eighteen  centuries  have  elapsed  since  they 
fell  asleep,  and  there  has  been  scarcely, 
until  of  late,  any  enlargement  of  Christianity 
beyond  the  bounds  to  which  they  carried 
it ;  while  within  these  bounds  it  has  been, 
for  the  most  part,  in  a  state  of  the  most 


264  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

deplorable  infirmity,  or  monstrous  perver- 
sion.   The  reason  is,  that  succeeding  gene- 
rations of  Christians  ceased  from  the  work 
to  which  the  first  disciples  devoted  their 
lives,  and  gave  their  chief  concern  to  doubt- 
ful disputations  about  rehgious  philosophy, 
and  ecclesiastical  forms,  and  other  secta- 
rian objects.     Christians  have  recently  had 
a  partial  awakening  from  this  mighty  in- 
fatuation, but  partial  it  truly  is.     Any  one 
who  will  lift  up  his  eyes,  and  look  in  the 
spirit  of  Christ,  over  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  church,  even  at  this  day,  will  see  the 
vast   multitude   of  its   members    engaged 
about  almost  every  thing  rather  than  fulfil- 
ling the  unrevoked  command  of  their  Lord, 
"  to  teach  all  nations,  and  preach  the  gos- 
pel to  every  creature."     Some,  under  the 
sway  of  the  spirit  of  sect,  are  striving  to 
build  themselves  up  in  great  strength  and 
dimensions,  and  would  fain  draw  down  fire 
from  heaven,  to  burn  up  those  who  do  not 
fall  in,  and  build  with  them.     Some  are 


RESTRAINTS   ON   DIVINE   INFLUENCE.  265 

labouring  hard  in  angry  controversy,  sup- 
posing nothing  to  be  a  more  worthy  object 
of  pursuit  than  the  confutation  of  specula- 
tive errors  on  all  points  of  divinity,  larger 
and  less.  Some  vex  their  own  spirits  not 
less  than  those  of  other  men,  night  and 
day,  in  trying  to  detect  all  descriptions  of 
heretics  and  deceivers.  And  some  like  the 
Zidonians,  are  "  at  quiet  and  secure,"  car- 
ing for  nothing  more  in  religion,  than  the 
decent  and  dignified  observances  of  ordi- 
nances. These  most  certainly  are  the 
greatest  of  all  hinderances  to  Revivals  of 
Religion  —  the  mighty  mountains  which 
stand  in  the  way  of  the  Church's  enlarge- 
ment. They  are  raised  and  kept  up  by 
the  Church  herself,  neglecting  her  proper 
work,  and  wasting  her  strength  and  her 
resources  about  things  of  questionable  pro- 
priety, or  at  least,  comparatively  of  very 
small  moment.  It  is  not  denied  that  church- 
purity  and  church-order,  as  subservient  to 
the  salvation  of  men,  are  important ;  but 
23 


266  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

when  these  things  are  made  the  supreme 
concern,  the  symmetry  and  beauty  of 
Christian  character,  give  place  to  the 
odious  forms  of  sectarianism,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  God  is  grieved  and  quenched. 
Heresy,  in  every  shape  is  unlovely ;  but 
when  Christian  brethren,  who  ought  to  be 
one,  as  Christ  and  the  Father  are  one  ;  ten- 
der of  each  other's  good  name,  and  glad  of 
each  other's  advancement  as  each  of  his 
own ;  ever  praying  for  one  another ;  ever 
labouring,  and  suffering,  and  rejoicing  to- 
gether, as  having  one  common  and  indivisi- 
ble interest :  when  these,  of  all  creatures 
the  most  closely  allied  in  brotherhood,  in- 
stead of  living  together  in  unity  and  love, 
treat  each  other  as  if  unity  were  a  disgrace 
and  a  crime,  censuring  and  denouncing 
one  another  before  the  world,  impeaching 
each  other  of  dishonesty  and  evil  designs, 
without  any  regard  to  Christ's  counsel, 
(Matt,  xviii.)  as  to  the  mode  of  proceeding 
in  such  delicate  cases ;  striving  with  all  bit- 


RESTRAINTS   ON   DIVINE    INFLUENCE.  267 

terness  and  fierceness  of  spirit  to  hinder 
each  other's  usefulness,  and  destroy  other's 
work  :  when  Christians  thus  carry  them- 
selves towards  Christians,  as  alas,  even 
ministers  are  at  this  day  and  in  this  country 
doing  to  a  great  and  still  increasing  ex- 
tent, they  are  doubtless  answerable  for 
greater  mischief,  a  more  hurtful  heresy 
than  universalism,  socinianism,  or  any  other 
false  doctrine  on  earth.  This,  though  ap- 
parently laid  to  heart  by  almost  no  one, 
is  truly  the  most  deplorable  of  evils.  While 
it  remains,  we  labour  in  vain  to  remove 
other  evils.  Error,  infidelity,  superstition, 
imposture,  idolatry,  worldliness,  vice,  and 
crime,  in  all  their  forms  and  degrees,  fed 
and  fattened  from  this  fountain  of  death, 
will  continue  to  flourish  in  the  earth,  in  de- 
spite of  all  our  zeal  to  destroy  them.  Re- 
vivals themselves,  however  multiplied,  will 
fail  to  convert  the  world,  if  they  do  not  re- 
move this  barrier  to  the  progress  of  the 
gospel.    For  according  to  the  prayer  which 


268  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

Christ  offered  for  his  disciples  just  before 
his  death,  unity  among  themselves  duly 
manifested,  is  the  just  and  necessary  means 
of  the  world's  conviction  that  Christ  is  its 
anointed  Lord  and  Saviour, 

II.  The  chief  instrumental  cause  of  the 
good,  and  the  evil,  in  the  Christian  world, 
is  to  be  found  in  Ministers  of  the  gospel. 
They  are,  as  they  have  always  been,  the 
greatest  friends,  and  likewise  the  greatest 
adversaries,  to  Revivals  of  religion.  Re- 
vivals have  become  so  common,  are  pro- 
ductive of  such  benign  results,  and  are  in 
such  esteem  among  all  the  best  churches 
in  our  land,  that  few  ministers  of  any  evan- 
gelical denomination  are  now  to  be  found 
among  their  open  opposers.  But  not  a 
few,  it  is  to  be  feared,  are  still  secretly 
doubtful,  if  not  more  than  doubtful,  as  to 
their  desirableness  ;  and  in  their  conduct 
in  respect  to  them,  proceed  rather  on  the 
supposition  that  they  may  he  of  God,  than 
on   the   heart-felt  and  cherished    convic- 


RESTRAINTS   ON   DIVINE  INFLUENCE.  269 

tion  that  they  are.  Now  such  ministers 
cannot  be  reheved  of  the  responsibihty 
of  being  opposed,  in  spirit  and  in  prac- 
tice, to,  Revivals,  by  their  silent  and 
negative  course  concerning  them.  To 
have  no  positive  faith  in  Revivals,  is  to  be 
averse  and  contrary  to  them.  Revivals 
are  so  big  with  great  consequences,  so  in- 
stinct with  life  and  power,  that  they  cannot 
be  the  object  of  attention,  without  moving 
the  mind  one  way  or  another,  without  be- 
ing hated  where  they  are  not  loved,  dread- 
ed where  they  are  not  desired,  though  pe- 
culiar circumstances  of  expediency  may 
repress  positive  expressions  of  aversion. 
Such  ministers  not  only  will  do  nothing  in 
favour  of  Revivals,  but  amidst  studied  si- 
lence and  reserve,  will  do  much  against 
them,  both  in  their  preaching  and  their  in- 
tercourse among  their  people.  Can  the 
preaching  of  men  be  otherwise  than  essen- 
tially hostile  to  Revivals,  who  are  not  with- 
out doubts  whether  Revivals  are  not  the 
23* 


270  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

work  of  man,  or  perhaps  of  man  and  Satan 
united  ?  The  state  of  mind  which  dictates 
such  a  strain  of  preaching,  cannot  but  dic- 
tate a  coincident  strain  of  conversation. 
Direct  unfriendhness  may  not  be  intended ; 
but  it  will  be  exerted,  and  exerted  in  the 
most  decisive  and  effectual  manner. 

But  ministers  who  fully  believe  in  Revi- 
vals, and  pray  and  plead  for  them  as  the 
best  of  God's  works,  may  still  be  practically 
opposed  to  them.  It  is  proper  here  to  use 
much  caution,  but  great  plainness  of  speech 
is  not  less  important.  It  cannot  well  be 
doubted  that  the  character  of  the  ministry 
in  this  country  has  been  in  some  respects 
improving.  The  glorious  Revivals  of  this 
day  speak  well  for  the  ministry.  But  yet 
it  is  too  clear  that  some  of  the  chief  hin- 
derances  to  Revivals  are  to  be  sought  for 
among  them.  They  have  improved,  but 
the  room  for  improvement  is  still  so  great, 
that   they    should   continually  forget   the 


RESTRAINTS  ON   DIVINE   INFLUENCE.  271 

things  which  are  behind,  and  press  forward 
still  towards  those  which  are  before.  Let 
even  our  most  simple  minded  ministers  re- 
flect, as  before  God  and  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  great  Judge  of  quick  and  dead, 
upon  the  general  strain  of  their  preaching. 
What  is  its  object  ?  To  earn  or  sustain 
a  high  reputation  in  the  church  ?  or  to  keep 
in  favour  with  their  people  ?  or  to  beat 
down  theological  antagonists  ?  or  merely 
to  recover  this  world  to  Christ,  to  save 
the  souls  of  men,  to  help  saints  on  their 
heaven-ward  way,  and  to  bring  sinners  to 
immediate  repentance  ?  The  spirit  of  Re- 
vivals, unquestionably,  admits  of  no  object 
in  preaching,  but  this  last.  Let  a  man 
stand  up  in  a  season  of  refreshing  from  the 
presence  of  God,  and  attempt  to  preach 
with  any  other  object  in  view,  and  though 
he  should  speak  with  the  tongue  of  an  an- 
gel, his  discourse  would  be  as  "  vinegar 
upon  nitre"  to  the  subjects  of  the  heaven- 
ly influence.     Let  ministers,  even  our  very 


272  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

holiest  ministers,  consider  also  their  gene- 
ral manner  of  life,  and  see  whether  that 
has  no  influence  on  Revivals  of  religion. 
In  their  plans  of  action,  in  their  daily  read- 
ing and  thinking,  in  their  prayers  in  the 
closet,  their  prayers  in  the  family,  their 
prayers  in  the  chm*ch,  in  their  private 
walks  and  conferences  with  individuals,  in 
their  general  mode  and  style  of  living,  in 
the  habitual  temper  and  frame  of  their 
minds,  —  have  they  nothing  quite  unconge- 
nial with  the  spirit  of  a  Revival ;  nothing 
with  which  that  spirit  cannot  coalesce  ; 
nothing  which  they  must  reform,  before 
they  can  have  good  reason  to  think  them- 
selves fit  instruments  for  the  Holy  Spirit's 
use  in  Revivals  ?  Ministers,  it  is  to  be  feared, 
have,  in  too  many  instances,  misapprehend- 
ed or  perverted  the  doctrine  of  the  Spirit's 
agency  in  producing  Revivals  of  religion. 
They  have  seemed  to  think,  not  only  that 
the  Spirit  must  work,  but  work  miraculous' 
ly  ;  not  with,  but  against  means ;  not  by 


RESTRAINTS  ON   DIVINE   INFLUENCE.  273 

employing  instruments  suited  in  their  own 
tendency  to  bring  about  the  desired  end, 
but  only  such  instrumental  influence  as  He 
must  resist  and  overcome,  or  be  himself 
defeated,  —  a  deplorable  error,  which  ap- 
pears to  have  so  inwrought  itself  into  the 
religious  philosophy  of  many,  that  a  mira- 
cle almost  seems  necessary  to  deliver  them 
from  its  power;  and  yet  so  palpably  an 
error,  that  the  infatuation  which  keeps 
them  in  subjection  to  it,  is  a  mystery. 
There  is  no  law  of  nature  more  invariably 
followed  than  that,  in  Revivals  of  religion, 
cause  precedes  effect,  appropriate  means 
are  used  to  attain  ends.  There  is  in  these 
noblest  of  God's  wonders,  a  peculiar  and 
admirable  exertion  of  the  Divine  power, 
but  they  are  not  miracles ;  and  so  to  con- 
ceive of  them  is  to  be  blind  to  their  true 
excellence,  and  to  the  obligations  and  re- 
sponsibilities in  which  they  involve  Chris- 
tians, and  especially  ministers  of  the  gos- 
pel.    Let  any  just  account  of  a  genuine 


274  RELIGION   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

Revival  which  has  been  given,  be  inteUi- 
gently  examined,  and  it  would  be  an  aston- 
ishment never  before  heard  of,  if  no  instru- 
mental causality  could  be  discerned,  suited 
in  all  respects  to  produce  the  precise  state 
of  things  related.  The  history  of  the  day 
of  Pentecost,  given  in  the  second  chapter 
of  the  Acts,  contains  indeed  the  record  of 
a  miracle,  and  that  miracle  answered  its 
purpose ;  but  that  purpose  was  not  the  Re- 
vival, but  the  fitting  and  furnishing  of  the 
instruments  of  the  Revival  for  their  work. 
The  men  who,  on  that  day,  "  were  pricked 
in  their  hearts,"  and  fled  for  refuge  from  a 
sense  of  guilt  to  the  blood  of  Christ,  had 
no  other  emotions  than  such  as  the  spirit 
and  discourse  of  the  disciples  of  Christ 
were  adapted  to  excite.  And  so  of  all  the 
other  early  successes  of  the  gospel.  See 
the  ministers  of  those  days,  sacrificing  their 
all,  and  without  thought  of  their  life,  giving 
themselves  wholly  to  prayer  and  the  minis- 
try of  the  word ;  night  and  day,  publicly, 


RESTRAINTS   ON   DIVINE    INFLUENCE.  275 

and  from  house  to  house,  warning  ev- 
ery man,  and  teaching  every  man,  and 
that  with  tears ;  striving  according  to  His 
working,  who  wrought  in  them  mightily ; 
and  say,  whether  their  success  was  without 
an  appropriate  instrumentality.  The  hke 
connexion  between  means  and  ends  is 
equally  observable  in  the  narratives  of 
modern  Revivals.  There  are  unusual  tri- 
umphs of  the  gospel,  and  there  are  mea- 
sures on  the  part  of  the  ministry  and 
churches  not  less  unusual.  Why  is  it  that 
many  ministers  do  not  understand  this  mat- 
ter ?  Why  do  they  stand  wondering  that 
the  gospel  is  so  restrained ;  that  there  are 
so  few  conversions  ;  that  the  effusions  of 
the  Spirit  are  not  every  where  descending  ? 
There  is  nothing  to  be  wondered  at,  but 
that  ministers  should  be  looking  for  Revi- 
vals, while  they  themselves  are  strangers  to 
the  spirit  of  Revivals,  and  are  so  living 
from  day  to  day,  that  Revivals  would  be 
almost  miracles,  if  they  should  take  place. 


276  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

It  needs  the  example  of  such  a  man  as 
David  Brainerd,  to  show  ministers  what 
manner  of  spirit  they  should  be  of,  if  they 
would  exert  no  influence  unfavourable  to 
Revivals  of  rehgion.  He  went  alone  into 
the  midst  of  a  savage  people,  and  though 
ignorant  of  their  language,  was  there  but  a 
short  time,  before  a  Revival  occurred  by 
his  means,  as  remarkable  as  any  of  those 
which  have  since  succeeded  in  our  land. 
That  Revival  was  a  wonderful  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  but  it  was  the  effect,  instru- 
mentally,  of  a  spirit  and  labours  on  the 
part  of  Brainerd  exactly  calculated  to  pro- 
duce it.  Let  ministers  study  such  an  ex- 
ample to  learn  whether  they  have  a  right 
to  the  appellation  of  Revival-men.  How 
many  are  there  now  bearing,  and  it  is  sup- 
posed worthily  bearing,  that  appellation, 
who,  under  the  light  of  such  an  example, 
would  cast  themselves  into  the  dust  before 
God,  as,  in  the  present  state  of  their  minds, 
opposed  to  Revivals;  and  by  such  prayer 


RESTRAINTS  ON  DIVINE   INFLUENCE.  277 

and  fasting,  and  deep  dealing  with  the 
Searcher  of  hearts,  as  Brainerd  was  wont 
to  practise,  seek  a  fresh  humihation  of 
soul,  —  a  fresh  renewal  and  quickening  ia 
the  spirit  of  their  minds. 

III.  To  obstacles  arising  from  the  cha- 
racter of  the  ministry,  there  are  corres- 
pondent obstacles  in  the  character  of  the 
Particular  Churches  of  which  they  have  the 
charge.  —  The  churches  of  our  land,  in  re- 
ference to  Revivals  of  religion,  are  vari- 
ously distinguished.  In  some,  the  great, 
the  rich,  and  the  fashionable  of  the  world, 
have  so  much  the  control,  that  no  calamity 
would  be  more  unwelcome  to  them,  than  a 
special  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Others  are,  in  their  own  conceit,  too  en- 
lightened and  liberalized,  to  be  capable  of 
what  to  them  appears,  such  pure  fanaticism 
as  a  religious  Revival.  Others  are  not  un- 
willing that  sudden  and  extensive  awaken- 
ings should  prevail  in  the  churches  that  de- 
sire them,  but  for  themselves,  they  prefer 
24 


278  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

the  gradual  and  ordinary  influences  of 
the  Spirit.  Others  deeming  no  spirit  so 
excellent  as  zeal  for  orthodoxy,  are  afraid 
of  the  influence  of  Revivals  on  their  old 
standards  of  faith,  and  so  hold  them  in 
suspicion,  if  not  in  worse  esteem.  Others 
on  the  contrary,  overpowered  by  the  spirit 
of  party,  long  for  nothing  so  much  as  an 
increase  of  numbers,  and  set  themselves 
against  true  Revivals,  by  contrivances  de- 
signed to  awaken  their  assemblies  into  a 
great  animal  excitement,  as  a  fruitful 
means  of  proselytism.  It  needs  no  proof 
that  particular  churches,  of  each  and  every 
one  of  the  classes  now  alluded  to,  are  but 
so  many  masses  of  obstruction  to  those 
remarkable  displays  of  saving  power, 
which  we  intend  by  the  phrase.  Revivals 
of  religion.  We  do  not  deny  to  these 
churches,  the  right  of  true  membership  in 
the  general  body  of  Christ ;  nor  are  we 
without  the  hope  that  the  advance  of  gos- 
pel light  in  this  day,  especially  by  means  of 


RESTRAINTS   ON   DIVINE  INFLUENCE.  279 

Revivals,  will  soon  exchange  their  oppo- 
sition to  these  richest  of  God's  gifts,  into 
earnest  desire  for  them ;  but  it  was  impos- 
sible in  thoroughly  searching  out  obstacles 
to  Revivals,  to  overlook  the  existence  or 
the  state  of  such  churches. 

But  now  let  us  look  at  churches  of  the 
other  description  —  such  as  are  not  cha- 
racteristically adverse  to  Revivals  of  reli- 
gion,—  in  these  also,  mighty  hinderances 
may  be  found.  Some  of  them  are  com- 
posed of  diverse  materials,  part  old  and 
part  new;  part,  on  various  accounts  opposed 
to  Revivals,  and  part  earnestly  desirous  of 
them ;  giving  rise  to  conflict  and  ahenation, 
in  respect  to  the  use  of  Revival  means  and 
proceedings,  and  thus  eff'ectually  excluding 
Revival  triumphs  and  blessedness.  Others 
of  the  churches  now  referred  to,  have  ad- 
vanced so  far  in  reformation,  under  the 
power  of  the  spirit  of  the  age,  that  they 
welcome  the  using  of  means  for  a  Revival 
to  a  certain  extent,  but  not  all  the  needful 


280  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

means,  and  none  of  them  perhaps,  with  the 
requisite  urgency.  They  will  favour  the 
proper  kind  of  preaching,  as  far  as  doc- 
trine is  concerned,  but  not  apostolical 
closeness  of  apphcation  and  plainness,  and 
boldness,  and  directness  of  appeal  to  the 
conscience  of  every  individual  hearer.  Or 
if  they  will  endure  such  preaching,  they 
wall  not  endure  the  after  methods  of  parti- 
cular inquiry  and  prayer,  by  which  the 
favourable  impressions  of  truth  may  be 
brought  to  a  good  issue  before  the  tempter 
has  time  to  efface  or  prevent  them.  These 
things  are  too  much  like  pulling  men  out 
of  the  fire,  and  taking  the  kingdom  of  hea- 
ven by  violence,  to  be  endured  by  many 
half-awakened  churches.  In  some  church- 
es other  difficulties  exist.  They  are  not 
unfriendly  either  to  Revivals  of  religion, 
or  to  the  requisite  instrumentality;  but  an 
unhappy  difference  between  them  and  their 
pastors,  or  personal  disputes  and  conten- 
tions among  themselves,  are  a  root  of  bit- 


RESTRAINTS   ON   DIVINE   INFLUENCE.  281 

terness  which  poisons,  in  respect  to  them, 
the  wells  of  salvation.  Or  they  are  church- 
es that  have  long  neglected  discipline,  and 
their  vigour  and  fruitfulness  are  impaired, 
and  the  influences  of  grace  withdrawn 
from  them,  by  means  of  the  pestilential  ex- 
ample of  scandalous  members.  Or  they 
are  churches,  with  whom,  whatever  may 
be  their  professed  attachment  to  Revivals, 
the  Holy  Spirit  has  a  controversy,  because 
they  refuse  to  come  up  to  the  help  of  the 
Lord  by  their  cheerful  concurrence  in 
works  of  love ;  taking  little  interest  in  those 
high  projects  of  benevolence  which  distin- 
guish this  age,  and  which  will  not  fail,  by 
God's  blessing,  to  convert  the  world,  if 
duly  sustained  by  Christian  faith  and  libe- 
rality. 

There  are  yet  other  churches  not  free 
from  obstructions.     They  have  been  dis- 
tinguished as  scenes  of  Revivals,  and  have 
now  no  objection  to  Revivals,  and  present 
24* 


RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 


no  manifest  hinderance  to  them  in  their  ex- 
ternal state.  They  are  supporters  of  the 
benevolent  societies ;  they  have  not  neg- 
lected discipline  ;  they  have  no  conten- 
tions ;  they  are  favourable  to  the  most  pun- 
gent strain  of  preaching,  and  all  the  appro- 
priate means  of  Revivals,  and  it  may  be, 
maintain  in  some  sort,  the  use  of  those 
means;  but  they  have  backslidden  in 
heart,  they  have  left  their  first  love ;  and 
while  all  is  well  in  respect  to  outward  ac- 
tion and  profession,  there  is  a  weariness, 
a  faintness,  a  secret  indisposedness  to- 
wards the  work  of  the  Lord,  in  the  spirit  of 
the  people ,  and  they  do  in  some  measure 
force  themselves  in  their  Revival  operations. 
Now  such  a  state  of  things,  is  no  more 
a  preparation  for  a  Revival  of  religion, 
than  a  state  of  open  opposition  to  a  Revi- 
val, Nay,  there  is  something  peculiarly 
repugnant  to  the  very  spirit  of  true  religion, 
in  this  constrained  and  heartless  show  of 
zeal.     Its  only  tendency  is  to  hardness  of 


RESTRAINTS  ON  DIVINE  INFLUENCE.  283 

heart,  both  in  its  subjects  and  in  its  objects. 
Perhaps  in  no  circumstances,  is  the  work 
of  spiritual  induration  in  saints  and  sinners, 
going  on  so  rapidly  as  when  a  church  puts 
forth  great  vehemence  in  action,  without 
proportional  vehemence  of  true  love,  —  the 
overflowing  of  gracious  affection  in  the 
heart.  All  force  is  hurtful  to  the  human 
mind,  and  chiefly  so  in  matters  of  religion, 
where  freedom  has  her  throne  and  the  glory 
of  her  empire.  The  free  Spirit  of  God 
cannot  but  resent  such  injurious  violence 
as  an  insult  to  Himself,  whose  cause  it  pre- 
tends to  be  subserving :  and  withdraw 
himself  from  a  people  who  have  kindled  a 
strange  fire  in  his  temple,  and  have  as- 
sumed the  province  of  the  Divinity,  rather 
than  that  of  his  dependent  and  helpless 
worshippers.  Such  churches,  therefore, 
should  not  glory  over  others,  but  rather 
strive  to  abase  themselves  lower  than  all 
others,  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man.  Let 
them  esteem  themselves,  as  they  truly  are 


284  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

in  their  present  spiritual  state,  not  as  favour- 
able, but  eminently  adverse,  to  a  genuine 
outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Let  them 
remember  from  whence  they  have  fallen, 
the  tenderness,  softness,  and  fulness  of 
their  affection  in  former  Revivals ;  and  how 
their  words  and  their  works  in  those  days, 
were  as  flowing  streams  from  a  redundant 
fountain  :  and  by  renewed  humiliation  of 
spirit,  let  them  regain  their  former  graci- 
ous elevation,  and  do  their  former  works, 
and  then  may  they  confidently  hope  and  ex- 
pect that  the  Holy  Spirit  will  descend  upon 
them  again,  as  rain  upon  the  mown  grass, 
and  as  showers  that  water  the  earth. 

IV.  The  remaining  class  of  hinderances 
embraces  those  which  arise  from  the  cha- 
racter of  Former  Revivals. 

Though  the  advances  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  have  always  been  chiefly  by  means 
of  Revivals,  as  Edwards  has  remarked,  yet 
manifold  imperfections  have  mingled  them- 
selves in  these  benign  products  of  the  Spi- 


RESTRAINTS  ON  DIVINE  INFLUENCE.  285 

rit  of  grace,  and  in  the  whole  history  of 
Revivals  we  shall  in  vain  seek  for  one 
entirely  faultless.  We  shall  here  extract 
from  the  work  of  Edwards  on  Revivals,  a 
passage,  for  whose  length  we  make  no 
apology,  notwithstanding  the  familiarity  of 
our  readers  with  that  work ;  since  we  deem 
it  at  the  same  time  so  seasonable  and  of 
such  diamond  value,  that  there  can  be  no 
danger  of  its  being  read  again  without  in- 
terest. "  The  weakness  of  human  nature 
has  always  appeared  in  times  of  great  Re- 
vivals of  religion,  by  a  disposition  to  run  to 
extremes,  and  get  into  confusion ;  and  es- 
pecially in  these  three  things,  —  enthusiasm, 
superstition,  and  intemperate  zeal.  So  it 
appeared  in  the  time  of  the  Reformation 
very  remarkably ;  and  even  in  the  days  of 
the  Apostles.  Many  wer  eexceedingly  dis- 
posed to  lay  weight  on  those  things  which 
were  very  chimerical,  giving  heed  to  fables,* 
Many,  as  ecclesiastical  history  informs  us, 

*  1  Tim.  I.  4.  &  IV.  7.    2  Tim.  II.  16,  27.  &  Titus  1. 14.  &  III.  9. 


286  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

fell  off  into  the  most  wild  enthusiasm  and 
extravagant  notions  of  spirituality,  and  ex- 
traordinary illumination  from  heaven  be- 
yond others ;  and  many  were  prone  to 
superstition  and  will-worship,  and  a  volun- 
tary humility,  giving  heed  to  the  com- 
mandments of  men,  being  fond  of  an  un- 
profitable bodily  exercise,  as  appears  by 
many  passages  in  the  Apostles'  writings. 
And  what  a  proneness  then  appeared  among 
professors  to  swerve  from  the  path  of  duty, 
and  the  spirit  of  the  gospel,  in  the  exercise 
of  a  rash,  indiscreet  zeal,  censuring  and 
condemning  ministers  and  people ;  one  say- 
ing, I  am  of  Paul ;  another,  I  am  of  Apollos ; 
and  another,  I  am  of  Cephas,  They  judged 
one  another,  for  differences  of  opinion 
about  smaller  matters,  unclean  meats,  holy 
days  and  holy  places,  and  their  different 
opinions  and  practices  respecting  civil  in- 
tercourse and  communication  with  their 
heathen  neighbours.  And  how  much  did 
vain  jangling,  disputing,  and  confusion  pre- 


RESTRAINTS   ON   DIVINE    INFLUENCE.  287 

vail  through  undue  heat  of  spirit,  under  the 
name  of  a  rchgious  zeal.*     And  what  a 
task  had  the  Apostles  to  keep  them  within 
bounds,    and  maintain  good  order  in  the 
churches  ?     How  often   do  they  mention 
their  irregularities?       The  prevailing    of 
such  like  disorders  seems  to  have  been  the 
special  occasion  of  writing  many  of  their 
epistles.      The  church,  in  that  great  effu- 
sion of  the  Spirit,  had  the  care  of  infallible 
guides,  who  watched  over  them  day  and 
night ;  but  yet  so  prone  were  they,  through 
the  weakness  and  corruption  of  human  na- 
ture, to  get  out  of  the  way,  that  irregularity 
and    confusion    arose    in   some    churches 
where  there  was  an  extraordinary  outpour- 
ing of  the   Spirit  to  a  very  great  height, 
even  in  the  iVpostles'  life-time,  and  under 
their  eye.     And  though  some  of  the  Apos- 
tles lived  long  to  settle  the  state  of  things, 
yet  presently  after  their  death  the  Christian 
church   ran  into  many  superstitious    and 

*  1.  Tim.  VI.  4,  5.     2.  Tim.  II.  16.     Tit.  III.  9. 


288  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

childish  notions  and  practices,  and  in  some 
respects,  into  a  great  severity  in  their  zeal," 
Revivals  in  times  less  remote,  have  been 
attended  with  similar  evils  ;  and  thus  from 
the  beginning,  while  antecedent  outpourings 
of  the  Spirit  have  in  some  respects  favour- 
ed, they  have  also  in  other  respects  tended 
to  hinder  those  which  followed.  From  the 
intermixture  of  bad  with  good  in  Revivals 
of  religion,  many  have  been  induced,  most 
unreasonably  and  culpably,  to  stand  in 
doubt  of  them,  and  many  more  to  come 
forth  in  open  and  active  hostility  against 
them.  Making  no  allowance  for  human 
frailty,  they  seem  to  have  concluded,  that 
a  work  of  the  Spirit,  though  the  sub- 
jects of  it  are  depraved  creatures,  must 
be  perfectly  disconnected  from  all  acci- 
dental perversion  ;  as  if  there  were  no  me- 
dium between  a  state  of  unmingled  sin, 
and  a  state  of  absolute  perfection,  and  as 
if  no  one  could  be  a  saint,  who  is  not 
already  immaculate.     But  it  would  not  be 


RESTRAINTS  ON  DIVINE  INFLUENCE.  289 

proper  here  to  dwell  on  the  weakness  and 
perverseness  of  the  opposition  made  to 
Revivals  on  this  ground ;  it  is  only  for  us 
now  to  bear  in  mind,  that  such  opposition, 
however  unreasonable,  is  real,  is  extensive, 
is  hurtful,  and  will  be  continued  doubtless, 
while  the  occasion  of  it  remains.  Let  the 
friends  of  Revivals  then,  as  much  as  lieth 
in  them,  labour,  if  possible,  to  put  an  end 
to  this  opposition,  by  removing  its  occa- 
sion. 

The  great  increase  of  Revivals  of  religion 
within  the  last  few  years,  has  given  good 
opportunity  for  discovering,  both  how  per- 
version may  arise,  and  how  it  may  be 
avoided;  still  no  one  can  be  ignorant  of 
defects  and  blemishes  in  the  best  and  least 
exceptionable  of  recent  Revivals.  Mis- 
takes remain  to  be  corrected ;  wood,  hay, 
and  stubble,  to  be  removed.  Let  us  not 
stop  in  the  course  of  improvement,  but  la- 
ment over,  and  endeavour  to  reform  what- 
ever is  amiss;  that  if  possible,  our  good 
25 


290  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

may  altogether  cease  to  be  evil  spoken  of, 
and  Revivals  of  religion,  the  chief  of  our 
hopes  for  a  perishing  world,  become  as  pure 
as  it  is  practicable  to  render  them  by  hu- 
man wisdom  and  watchfulness. 


X. 


THE  FIRST  LAST,  AND  THE  LAST  FIRST; 


THE  PARABLE  OF  THE  LABOURERS  IN  THE  VINEYARD. 
Matt.  XX.  1  —  15. 


A  REFERENCE  to  the  circuiiistances  which 
seem  to  have  suggested  this  Parable,  will 
assist  us  in  expounding  it,  Christ  had  been 
remarking  in  a  very  serious  manner,  on  the 
danger  of  riches,  a  striking  exemplification 
of  which  had  just  occurred,  in  a  young 
Ruler's  going  sorrowfully  away  from  him, 
upon  discovering,  under  the  light  of  his 
teaching,  the  incompatibility  of  the  supreme 
love  of  wealth  with  the  love  of  God.  One 
of  the  Apostles,  on  hearing  these  unusual 
observations,  seems  to  have  congratulated 
himself  and  his  brethren,  that  they  were 


292  RELIGION   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

obnoxious  to  no  danger  from  attachment 
to  worldly  things.  "  We  have  left  all  and 
followed  thee,  what  shall  we  have  there- 
fore ?"  The  reply  of  Christ  was  in  the 
highest  degree  encouraging  to  all  who  had 
renounced  the  world  for  his  service,  "Verily 
I  say  unto  you,  that  ye  who  have  followed 
me,  in  the  Regeneration  when  the  Son  of 
Man  shall  sit  on  the  throne  of  his  glory, 
ye  also  shall  sit  on  twelve  thrones,  judging 
the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel :  and  every  man 
who  hath  forsaken  houses,  or  brethren,  or 
sisters,  or  father,  or  mother,  or  wife,  or 
children,  for  my  name's  sake,  shall  receive 
an  hundred  fold,  and  shall  inherit  everlast- 
ing life."  But  though  no  self-denial  exer- 
cised on  Christ's  account  shall  pass  unre- 
warded, it  is  a  sentiment  wholly  inconsist- 
ent with  the  spirit  of  humble  piety,  that 
any  rewards  conferred  by  Him  on  mankind 
are  properly  merited  by  them,  or  that  He 
is  not  perfectly  free  from  all  the  restraints 
of  strict  justice,  in  dispensing  his  infinite 


THE  FIRST  LAST,  AND  THE  LAST  FIRST.  293 

favour ;  and  to  repel  this  sentiment,  which 
is  so  apt  to  associate  itself  with  our  hopes 
of  heavenly  recompense,  Christ  subjoined 
to  his  promise  of  munificence  to  his  self- 
renouncing  followers,  the  deeply  significant 
Remark,  so  often  repeated  by  him  on  other 
occasions,  that  many  who  are  first  shall  he 
last,  and  the  last  shall  be  first.  Nor  did  he 
now  content  himself  with  merely  making 
this  Remark;  he  dwelt  upon  it  at  much 
length,  and  then  reiterated  it,  that  he  might 
if  possible,  fix  it  immovably  in  the  minds 
of  his  disciples.  Our  Parable  is  altogether 
employed  in  its  illustration.  The  design 
of  this  Parable  is  to  set  this  Remark  forth 
in  such  a  manner  that  no  room  might  be 
left  for  either  ignorance  or  contradiction. 
Not  only  is  the  Parable  connected  with  the 
Remark  by  the  word  "  for,"  but  at  its  close, 
the  Remark  is  a  second  time  introduced 
thus ;  "  so  "  —  that  is,  as  illustrated  by  the 
Parable,  —  "the  last  shall  be  first,  and  the 
first  last;  for  many  be  called,  but  few 
chosen."  25* 


294  RELIGION   OP  THE   BIBLE. 

We,  therefore,  know  the  just  scope  and 
purpose  of  this  Parable.  It  is  to  state  and 
defend  this  procedure  of  the  divine  admin- 
istration, THE   LAST   SHALL  BE  FIRST,  AND 

THE  FIRST  LAST.  It  is  particularly  as  ex- 
emplified under  the  gospel,  as  appertaining 
to  "the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,"  that  our  Sa- 
viour here  considers  it.  His  doctrine  is, 
that  in  God's  dealings  with  mankind,  ac- 
cording to  the  gospel,  the  rule  and  disci- 
pline of  Christ's  empire,  —  the  administra- 
tion of  Heaven,  —  many  who  are  last  shall 
be  first,  and  the  first  last :  —  many,  first, 
in  the  distributions  of  nature  and  provi- 
dence, shall  be  last,  under  the  distributions 
of  saving  mercy ;  and  on  the  other  hand, 
many  last  in  the  former  distributions,  shall 
be  first  in  the  latter. 

That  the  last  who  are  to  be  first,  and  the 
first  who  are  to  be  last,  are  last  and  first, 
in  respect  not  to  moral  character,  but  to 
the  distributions  of  Nature  and  Providence, 
must  be  admitted;  otherwise,  God  does 


THE  FIRST  LAST,  AND  THE  LAST  FIRST.  295 

not  always  render  to  men,  in  his  final 
dealings  with  them,  according  to  their 
measures  of  personal  holiness  or  unholi- 
ness;  —  to  affirm  which  were  to  impeach 
the  moral  perfection  of  the  Deity,  and  to 
contradict  the  explicit  testimony  of  Scrip- 
ture. 

It  is  also  to  be  observed,  that  the  pro- 
cedure is  not  said  to  be  a  principle  of  the 
divine  government,  invariably  adhered  to ; 
but  what  frequently  takes  place.  Many 
who  are  first  shall  be  last.  It  is  sometimes 
the  case  that  the  first  in  natural  powers 
and  external  advantages,  are  also  first  in 
the  graces  of  the  Spirit  and  the  blessings 
of  Heaven;  but  it  is  often  the  reverse. 
This  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Parable  in  its 
general  form. 

This  doctrine  is  first  stated,  and  then 
defended.,  in  the  Parable  :  we  shall  consider 
both  its  statement  and  vindication. 

I.  The  fact  itself,  that  in  God's  dealings 
with  mankind  under  the  gospel,  many  who 


296  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

are  last  shall  be  first,  and  the  first  last,  is 
thus  presented  in  the  Parable.  —  A  certain 
householder,  or  master  of  a  family,  would 
hire  labourers  into  his  vineyard.  He  ac- 
cordingly went  out  early  in  the  morning, 
and  hired  some ;  agreeing  to  give  them  a 
penny,  the  customary  wages,  for  a  day's 
work.  Others  he  employed  at  nine  o'clock, 
three  hours  after;  promising  them  what 
should  be  right.  Others  he  engaged  at 
twelve  o'clock ;  others  at  three  ;  and  others 
again  not  until  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon ; 
—  agreeing  to  give  them  all  a  reasonable 
price  for  their  work.  At  the  close  of  the 
day,  he  directed  his  steward  to  settle  with 
the  labourers,  beginning  with  those  who  had 
been  hired  last,  and  proceeding  inversely 
until  he  came  to  the  first.  This  was  not 
all :  every  labourer  received  the  same  wages. 
They  received  a  penny  who  had  wrought 
but  one  hour;  and  they  but  a  penny  who 
had  borne  the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day. 
Such   is   the    parabolic   statement  of  the 


THE  FIRST  LAST,  AND  THE  LAST  FIRST.  297 

subject.  Thus  it  is,  that  under  the  gospel, 
many  who  are  first  shall  be  last,  and  the 
last  first.  As  the  labourers  who  had  worked 
twelve  full  hours  had  to  stand  by,  and  see 
their  fellows  all  settled  with  first,  and  paid 
more  than  their  due  ;  and  when  at  last  their 
turn  came,  were  not  paid  on  the  same 
scale  of  generosity,  but  strictly  according 
to  a  just  agreement,  and  so  received  but  a 
penny,  the  same  that  had  been  given  to 
those  who  had  been  but  a  single  hour  in 
the  vineyard ;  —  so,  in  many  cases,  does 
God  deal  with  men,  according  to  the  spirit 
and  principles  of  the  gospel. 

Such  is  the  instruction  of  the  Parable ; 
let  us  now  see  how  the  matter  stands  in 
actual  and  constantly  occurrent  exemplifi- 
cation. How  appears  the  doctrine  before 
us,  in  the  light  of  facts  and  experience? 
Many  who  are  first  shall  be  last,  and  the 
last  first,  —  so  said  our  Saviour,  and  his 
word  has  been  fulfilled  in  reference  to  the 
following  particulars. 


298  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

Rank,  or  condition  of  life.  Persons  on 
this  account  distinguished,  are  certainly 
among  the  first,  but  how  often  are  these 
first  last,  and  how  often  are  the  last  in 
rank,  first  under  the  dispensation  of  saving 
grace.  Few  men  of  worldly  distinction 
have  part  with  Christians,  and  those  who 
have,  commonly  fall  far  behind  many  an 
unnoticed  believer,  in  all  the  excellen- 
cies and  privileges  of  Christian  character. 
When  the  great  of  this  world  become  spi- 
ritually minded,  their  conversion  is  apt  to 
be  spoken  of  as  a  prodigy,  and  one  hun- 
dredth part  of  some  obscure  widow's  self- 
denial,  would  pass  in  them  for  unparalleled 
religion. 

Wealth.  The  last  here  are  sometimes 
first,  and  the  first  are  commonly  last.  But 
few  rich  men  ever  become  truly  religious. 
It  is  affirmed  in  Scripture,  and  verified  by 
fact,  that  the  pursuit  of  riches  is  exceed- 
ingly incongenial  with  the  pursuit  of  holi- 
ness.    Men  intent  upon  wealth,  so  involve 


THE  FIRST  LAST,  AND  THE  LAST  FIRST.  299 

themselves  in  worldly  schemes  and  enter- 
prises, that  thoughts  of  rehgion  and  eter- 
nity can  scarcely  find  a  welcome  lodge- 
ment, for  an  hour,  in  their  minds.  And  if 
rich  men,  or  men  seeking  riches,  do  become 
Christians,  they  rarely  attain  eminence  in 
piety.  Much  more  notice  is  taken  of  re- 
ligion in  rich  men  than  in  poor.  A  little 
religion  passes  for  almost  a  wonder  in  a 
rich  man.  The  man  who  with  an  income 
of  ten  thousand  a  year,  gives  fifties  or 
hundreds  at  a  time,  in  the  cause  of  holy 
charity,  has  the  praises  of  his  liberality 
sounded  through  the  land  ;  yet  a  poor  widow 
who  contributes  her  daily  sustenance,  and 
fasts  a  day  in  consequence,  though  her  con- 
tribution is  only  two  mites,  gives  in  the 
sight  of  God,  greater  proof  of  liberality 
and  piety,  than  all  the  wealthy  of  this  world 
together,  who  after  all  their  giving,  have 
still  an  abundance  in  their  hands.  Most 
manifest  is  it,  that  the  rich  of  this  world, 
are  commonly  among  the  poorest  in  hea- 


300  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

venly  treasure.  On  the  other  hand,  hath 
not  God  chosen  the  poor  of  this  world, 
rich  in  faith,  and  heirs  of  the  kingdom 
which  he  hath  promised  to  those  who  love 
him?  There  are,  God  be  praised,  illustri- 
ous exceptions ;  but,  in  general,  the  first  in 
respect  to  riches,  are  last,  and  the  last  in 
this  respect,  are  often  first  in  God's  deal- 
ings with  mankind  for  eternity. 

Understandings  learning,  and  natural  gifts 
and  accomplishments.  The  oracles  and 
princes  of  this  world's  wisdom,  are  gene- 
rally last  in  the  wisdom  which  cometh 
from  above ;  and  the  weak  and  foolish  of 
this  world  are  often  first.  To  philosophers, 
orators,  poets,  historians,  statesmen,  econo- 
mists, the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  for 
the  most  part,  are  foolishness ;  while  men 
of  but  common  faculties  and  little  cultiva- 
tion, are  refined  and  elevated  into  the  very 
likeness  of  God,  by  what  they  discern  of 
the  excellency  of  those  things,  it  suits 
the  pleasure  and  purposes  of  the  Almighty 


THE  FIRST  LAST,  AND  THE  LAST  FIRST.  301 

Sovereign  to  hide  the  things  into  which  the 
angels  desire  to  look,  from  the  wise  and 
prudent  of  the  world,  and  to  reveal  them 
unto  babes.  Not  many  wise  men  after  the 
flesh  are  partakers  of  the  heavenly  calling; 
but  God  hath  chosen  the  foolish  things  of 
the  world  to  confound  the  wise.  In  re- 
spect to  understanding  and  learning,  then, 
the  last  are  often  first,  and  the  first  last. 

Religious  advantages.  Many  with  the 
best  means  of  grace  never  come  to  repent- 
ance, but  rather  grow  hopelessly  confirmed 
in  hardness  of  heart;  while  others  Avith 
nothing  but  their  Bibles,  become  accom- 
plished and  eminent  Christians.  Many 
congregations,  with  the  ablest  preaching 
and  the  best  and  most  abundant  privileges, 
increase  only  in  worldliness  and  stupidity, 
while  feeble  and  destitute  churches,  that 
hear  a  sermon  but  occasionally,  are  re- 
freshed with  the  visitations  of  God's  re- 
viving Spirit.  Capernaum,  Chorazin,  and 
Bethsa!da,  the  cities  in  which  Christ  did 
26 


302 


RELIGION   OP   THE   BIBLE. 


the  most  of  his  mighty  works,  are  in  the 
day  of  judgement,  cast  down  to  a  deeper 
perdition  than  other  places;  while  towns 
and  villages  in  the  ends  of  the  earth, 
where  some  humble  missionaries  have 
been  preaching  the  gospel  with  stammer- 
ing tongues,  rise  to  the  highest  spheres  of 
everlasting  blessedness.  Religion,  it  is 
true,  prevails  commonly  in  proportion  to 
the  pains  and  prayers  of  ministers  and 
Christians;  but  it  is  not  so  always.  The 
last  in  advantages  are  often  first  in  grace, 
and  the  first  are  often  last. 

Reputation  for  piety.  Persons  of  no 
standing,  even  for  outward  virtue,  are 
sometimes  preferred  in  the  election  of 
God,  before  men  of  the  highest  standing 
in  the  church.  The  first  in  profession  are 
the  last  in  salvation.  Publicans  and  har- 
lots go  into  the  kingdom,  before  chief 
priests  and  elders  of  the  people.  A  male- 
factor repents  and  is  admitted  into  Para- 
dise;  while  scribes  and  religious  teachers 


THE   FIRST    LAST,  AND   THE   LAST   FIRST.  303 

are  denounced  as  serpents,  a  generation  of 
vipers.  The  greatest  professors  of  religion 
are  not  unfrequently  the  greatest  of  sin- 
ners: first  in  pretence,  last  in  principle; 
first  in  show,  last  in  substance ;  first  in  the 
church  on  earth,  last  and  lowest  in  the 
church  above,  if  not  in  the  prison  of  eter- 
nal despair. 

Confidence  of  good  estate.  Many  who 
profess  to  know  that  they  are  Christians, 
are  disowned  and  condemned  by  Christ  as 
workers  of  iniquity ;  while  others  who  are 
prone  to  question  even  their  best  motives 
and  intentions,  are  welcomed  to  the  high- 
est joys  of  his  kingdom.  The  first  in  self- 
conceit  are  last  in  the  estimation  of  God, 
and  the  last  in  the  former  respect,  are  first 
in  the  latter. 

Religious  exertions  mid  anxiety.  Among 
those  who  are  deemed  inquirers,  the  last 
are  often  first,  and  the  first  last.  True  in- 
quirers, indeed,  always  find  in  proportion 
to  their  diligence  in  seeking :  but  it  is  not 


304  RELIGION   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

SO  in  all  who  are  called  inquirers.  Many 
are  ever  learning,  who  never  yet  come  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  truth.  Many  seek 
for  months  and  years,  who  never  find  at  all ; 
while  others  awakened  to  reflection  but 
yesterday,  have  already  repented,  and  been 
forgiven.  Many  make  a  Saviour  of  their 
exertions,  while  others  discover  at  once 
the  folly  of  such  a  courso,  and  immediately 
yield  themselves  into  the  hands  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Persons  of  amiable  dispositions 
and  manners,  of  regular  attendance  on  or- 
dinances, of  frequent  convictions,  of  severe 
mortifications,  pass  life  away,  becoming  no 
better,  but  worse  and  worse,  to  the  last; 
while  men  of  profane  lives  are  subdued 
by  the  power  of  divine  grace,  break  off 
their  sins  by  righteousness,  and  press  in- 
stantly into  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Such  are  some  of  the  actual  exemplifi- 
cations of  that  saying  of  Christ,  which  may 
be  proposed  as  the  Moral  of  this  Parable, 
—  Many  that  are  last  thall  be  first,  and  the 


THE   FIRST   LAST,  AND   THE   LAST   FIRST.  3D5 

first  last.  Thus  is  it  often  in  God's  deal- 
ings with  men  under  the  gospel.  Let  this 
suffice  for  the  exhibition  of  the  doctrine. 
Next  let  us  attend  to, 

II.  Its  vindication.  This  is  the  object  of 
the  second  part  of  the  Parable.  The  la- 
bourers who  had  wrought  the  whole  day, 
upon  finding  that  no  more  wages  were  in- 
tended for  them  than  had  been  given  to 
those  who  had  wrought  one  hour,  mur- 
mured against  the  good  man  of  the  house, 
saying,  —  These  last  have  wrought  but  ono 
hour,  and  thou  hast  made  them  equal  to 
us  who  have  borne  the  burden  and  heat 
of  the  day.  But  he  answered  one  of  them, 
and  said.  Friend,  I  do  thee  no  wrong.  Didst 
thou  not  agree  with  me  for  a  penny  ?  Take 
that  thine  is,  and  go  thy  way.  I  will  give 
unto  this  last  even  as  unto  thee.  Is  it  not 
lawful  for  me  to  do  what  I  will  with  mine 
own/  Is  thine  eye  evil,  because  I  am 
good  ?  —  So  the  last  shall  be  first,  and  the 
first  last.  The  procedure  is  liable  to  no 
valid  objection.  26* 


306  RELIGION   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

Let  US  consider  the  manner  in  which  it 
is  here  defended.  Nothing  could  be  more 
sohd,  more  convincing  than  the  household- 
er's reasoning  with  the  complaining  labour- 
ers. It  is  perfectly  logical.  It  is  so  sim- 
ple that  a  child  cannot  but  comprehend  it, 
and  so  obviously  conclusive,  that  no  one 
can  even  offer  it  resistance.  Apply  this 
process  of  reasoning  to  the  procedure  of 
the  divine  administration  before  us.  It 
consists  of  three  distinct  arguments. 

The  first  is,  that  the  procedure  does  no 
wrong  to  those  whom  it  does  not  benefit. 
What  though  the  first  be  last,  if  they  are 
not  thereby  injured  ?  If  no  promise  is  bro- 
ken, no  contract  left  unfulfilled,  no  claim  left 
unsatisfied,  no  reasonable  demand  left  un- 
answered, no  principle  of  equity  or  justice 
is  violated.  This  is  the  fact,  in  regard  to 
the  administration  of  God,  under  the  gos- 
pel. The  Sovereign  Judge  and  Disposer 
of  all,  is  not,  in  the  present  case,  unright- 
eous.    He    maintains   perfect   equity,   as 


THE    FIRST    LAST,    AND    THE    LAST    FIRST.         3C7 

really  as  the  householder  in  the  Parable, 
when  he  gave  the  labourers  their  penny- 
according  to  agreement.  What  creature 
can  complain  against  him,  on  the  ground 
of  not  being  honestly  and  equitably  dealt 
with  ?  They  who  are  made  last,  are  not 
thereby  treated  with  arbitrary  rigour  or 
cruelty.  They  cannot  say  with  truth,  that 
they  are  dealt  with  hardly.  Is  that  servant 
hardly  treated,  who  receives  from  his  em- 
ployer the  full  amount  of  just  wages  for 
which  he  agreed  to  serve  him  ? 

If  the  matter  rested  here,  and  not  a  word 
more  could  be  added  in  defence  of  the  Di- 
vine Government,  every  murmuring  tongue 
would  be  condemned.  Why  reply  against 
the  sovereign  pleasure  of  God,  when  con- 
fessedly it  does  no  creature  any  wrong  ? 
But  this  is  not  all  that  should  be  said  :  God 
not  only  does  his  creatures  no  wrong ;  he 
shows  them,  even  the  unworthiest  of  them, 
the  most  amazing  kindness.  Those  who 
are  translated  from  the  first  place  to  the 


308 


RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 


last,  are  still  debtors  to  his  infinite  mercy. 
Let  it  be  considered  how  they  came  to  be 
first  at  all ;  first  in  rank,  in  possessions,  in 
knowledge,  in  religious  advantages,  and 
preferment.  Are  they  no  way  indebted  to 
God  for  these  distinguished  privileges  ? 
Who  made  them  first  in  these  respects,  or 
what  have  they  which  they  did  not  receive? 
If  they  would  be  themselves  just  to  their 
Maker,  they  would  ascribe  to  his  sovereign 
goodness  not  only  their  being  in  any  re- 
spect first,  but  their  existence  for  one  and 
every  moment  out  of  the  world  of  de- 
spair. The  matter  is  carried  far  enough 
in  the  Parable  to  answer  our  Lord's  pur- 
pose,—  to  show  the  wickedness  of  mur- 
muring ;  but  it  is  not  carried  as  far  as  it 
might  have  been.  God  does  no  one  wrong, 
but  all  have  done  him  wrong,  to  an  immea- 
surable extent.  These  first  and  greatest 
favourites  of  his  providence,  are  among  the 
first  in  enmity  to  his  interest,  in  rebellion 
against    his    government.      They   do   not 


THE    FIRST    LAST,    AND    THE    LAST    FIRST.  309 

sustain  toward  him  the  relation  of  faithful 
labourers  to  an  employer.  This  the  Pa- 
rable does  not  mean  to  assert ;  it  is  against 
all  Scripture  and  all  conviction.  Mankind, 
even  the  very  best  of  the  race,  have,  of 
themselves,  or  otherwise  than  as  disposed  by 
Divine  grace,  rendered  no  service  to  God, 
and  have  no  claim  upon  him  for  any  thing 
but  his  just  indignation.  The  greatest  re- 
cipients of  his  bounty  have  perverted  all 
his  gifts  to  purposes  of  evil.  These  men 
of  high  condition,  of  riches,  of  learning  and 
genius,  of  distinction  in  religious  privileges, 
and  other  peculiar  blessings,  have  forgot- 
ten him,  disowned  him,  set  up  rivals 
against  him,  and  aimed  to  subvert  his  do- 
minion. It  had  been  enough  to  say  that 
God  has  done  them  no  injury,  but  the  truth 
is  that  by  their  pre-eminence  in  sin,  they 
are  justly  exposed  to  the  severest  indigna- 
tion of  God.  Where  now  is  ground  for 
murmuring?  That  these  first  should  be 
last,  and  the  last  first,  what  is  this,  that  it 
should  give  occasion  for  complaint  ? 


310  RELIGION    OP    TJIE    BIBLE. 

The  second  argument  is,  that  in  this 
procedure  generosity  is  exercised  only  at  its 
author^s  expense.  While  the  householder 
was  just  to  the  first,  he  was  generous  to 
the  last,  and  his  generosity  cost  no  one 
any  thing  but  himself.  The  murmuring  la- 
bourers, therefore,  had  reason  of  complaint 
on  no  ground.  They  could  not  complain 
on  their  own  account,  for  they  received 
all  they  were  entitled  to.  They  could  not 
complain  on  account  of  any  other ;  for  no 
other  was  injured  more  than  themselves  by 
the  liberality  shown  to  their  fellow-labour- 
ers. The  householder  had  given  away  his 
own  property,  and  was  it  not  lawful  for 
him  to  do  what  he  would  with  his  own? 
What  had  it  been  to  them,  had  he  thought 
proper  to  give  their  fellow-labourers  his 
whole  estate  ?  If  a  man  choose  to  make 
large  presents  to  some  poor  family,  what 
were  that  to  his  M'orkman,  who  had  received 
just  wages?  Would  it  not  be  thought  in- 
sufferable waywardness  and  intermeddling, 


THE    FIRST    LAST,    AND    THE    LAST    FlUST.  311 

in  any  person  to  censure  and  complain 
against  his  neighbour  for  being  hberal  to 
some  object  of  charity  ?  Who  thinks  of 
even  asking  questions  in  such  a  case? 
"Who  would  not  resent  such  questions  as 
officious  ?  Men  do  as  they  please  with 
what  belongs  to  them,  and  will  not  bear  to 
be  called  to  account  by  any  one.  And 
may  not  God,  without  being  hable  to  in- 
terrogations or  censure  from  his  depend- 
ent creatures,  do  what  he  pleases  with 
what  belongs  to  him?  If  he  injures  no 
one,  while  he  shows  special  favour  to 
some,  if  what  he  bestows  is  strictly  his 
own,  may  he  not  bestow  it  as  he  pleases, 
without  giving  cause  of  offence  ? 

This  argument  is  of  greater  force  in  its 
application  to  the  Divine  proceeding,  than 
in  any  other  application  of  it.  God's  right 
to  his  01V71,  is  higher  than  any  creature's  to 
what  he  may  claim  as  belonging  to  him. 
God  owns  all  things  in  a  stricter  sense 
than  a  creature  can  own  any  thing.     Every 


312  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

creature,  as  well  as  every  possession  of 
every  creature,  belongs  to  God  more  ab- 
solutely, than  even  the  members  of  one's 
body  or  the  faculties  of  his  mind  belong  to 
him.  When  men  speak  of  their  right  to 
do  as  they  please  with  their  own,  they 
speak  extravagantly  and  sinfully,  unless 
they  mean  to  be  understood  in  a  quahfied 
sense.  Their  own,  in  strict  truth,  is  not 
their  own,  so  much  as  God's,  whose  will 
they  cannot  disregard  in  the  use  they  make 
of  their  possessions  without  injustice  and 
dishonesty.  Men  are  but  stewards  of 
God's  substance,  and  the  time  is  at  hand 
when  they  must  give  a  strict  account  of 
their  stewardship.  If  then  they  deem  it 
an  indignity  for  their  fellow-men  to  find 
fault  on  any  account,  for  any  use  they 
make  of  what  they  call  their  property,  is 
it  not  a  higher  indignity  to  God,  for  any 
creature  to  find  fault  with  him,  for  doing 
as  he  pleases  with  his  property  ?  Every 
man  holds  it  his  prerogative  to  give  all  his 


THE    FIRST    LAST,  AND    THE    LAST    FIRST.         313 

possessions  away,  if  he  pleases,  to  any  per- 
son or  persons  whatsoever ;  and  who  shall 
interfere  with  his  exercising  that  preroga- 
tive ?  And  may  not  God  give  away  as 
much  of  his  own  as  he  pleases,  and  to 
what  persons  he  pleases,  without  being 
liable  to  murmuring  and  complaining  from 
his  unAvorthy  and  guilty  .  creatures  ?  If 
he  chooses  to  make  the  last  first,  to  ex- 
alt the  lowest  and  meanest  of  mankind 
above  the  greatest  and  the  highest,  by  his 
munificent  benefactions,  may  he  not  with 
perfect  rectitude  exercise  such  generosity, 
since  it  is  at  the  expense  of  no  other  being  ? 
If,  in  making  the  first  last,  he  does  not  injure 
them  at  all,  but  gives  them  all  their  rights, 
complaining  is  excluded ;  and  it  is  also  ex- 
cluded when  he  makes  the  last  first,  since 
in  doing  so,  he  graciously  bestows  what  is 
absolutely  his  own,  and  not  another's. 

The  third  argument  in  vindication  of  this 
procedure,  shows  it  to  be  yet  more  inex- 
cusable to  reply  against  it.     It  traces  ob- 
27 


314  RELIGION  OF   THE  BIBLE. 

jections  to  a  spirit  of  malevolence :  "  Is  thine 
eye  evil  because  I  am  good  ?"  Why  ma- 
lignant either  toward  me  or  my  benefici- 
aries, because  I  show  them  this  kindness  ? 
A  good  temper  is  gratified  and  pleased  to 
see  others  happy,  even  if  it  have  no  per- 
sonal share  in  the  happiness.  An  inge- 
nuous mind  has  a  sincere  and  a  lively 
joy  .in  the  happiness  of  others.  It  is  a 
wretched  pcrverseness  to  become  ill-na- 
tured and  envious  at  instances  of  gene- 
rosity, merely  because  self  hn.s  no  interest 
in  them.  The  exhibition  of  goodness,  no 
matter  to  whose  advancement,  should  com- 
mand the  complacency  and  praise  of  all. 
To  have  an  evil  eye,  because  the  advance- 
ment is  another's,  is  shame  and  misery. 

Applied  to  the  Divine  conduct,  this  ar- 
gument is  of  peculiar  power.  Shall  men 
complain  while  others  receive  favour  from 
God  not  granted  to  themselves?  God 
does  them  no  wrong  in  withholding  favour 
from  them,  while  he  shows  himself  good 


THE    FIRST    LAST,    AND    THE    LAST  FIRST.         315 

and  worthy  of  universal  love,  in  bestowing 
it  on  their  fellow-creatures.  Ought  they 
not  to  praise  him  for  his  goodness  ? 
Ought  they,  because  of  it,  to  indulge  ma- 
lignant feelings  both  to  him  and  their  pro- 
moted fellow-men  ? 

There  is  a  speciality  in  this  case,  which 
should  not  be  overlooked.  The  Parable 
does  not  express  all  that  might  have  been 
truly  said.  It  states  enough  to  answer  our 
Lord's  purpose ;  but  we  are  elsewhere 
taught,  what  we  also  know  from  observa- 
tion and  experience,  that  there  is  one  thing 
which  immensely  enhances  the  criminality 
of  this  censure  of  the  Divine  administration. 
The  favour  which  a  part  receive,  is  luhat 
the  others  do  not  desire.  The  labourers 
in  the  Parable  had  not  the  offer  of  any 
thing  more  than  they  received ;  but  man- 
kind have  the  offer,  —  an  offer  made  to 
them  not  only  with  sincerity,  but  with  the 
greatest  possible  earnestness,  —  of  all  the 
blessedness  of  heaven.     God  is  willing  that 


316  RELIGION    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

all  men  should  stand  as  high  in  the  joys 
and  glories  of  his  eternal  kingdom,  as  their 
natures  and  faculties  will  admit.  He  is  in- 
tent upon  the  happiness  of  men,  and  if  any 
are  not  ultimately  happy,  forever,  and  in 
the  highest  degree,  the  reason  is  their  own 
contempt  of  the  Divine  mercy.  They  who 
are  displeased  with  God  because  he  shows 
the  riches  of  saving  goodness  to  some  of 
their  brethren,  are  persons  who  up  to  the 
present  moment,  are  despisers  of  his  grace, 
—  incorrigible  rejecters  of  his  great  sal- 
vation. That  renewing  and  sanctifying 
mercy  which  he  shows  to  others,  they  are  so 
far  from  desiring  for  themselves,  that  they 
labour  to  secure  themselves  against  its  in- 
fluence ;  as  if  to  be  its  subject  were  the 
greatest  of  calamities.  And  yet  they  are 
offended  both  with  God  and  their  fellows, 
because  their  fellows  are  made  partakers  of 
it.  Where  can  a  parallel  be  found  to  this 
perverseness  ?  If  it  were  favour  which  was 
not  even  offered  to  them,  they  should  re- 


THE    FIRST    LAST,   AND    THE    LAST    FIRST.        317 

joice  that  it  was  given  to  others ;  to  be  of- 
fended on  that  account,  while  it  would  be 
theirs  too,  if  they  did  not  most  obstinately 
reject  it,  is  an  iniquity  without  excuse  or 
palliation. 

Remark.  We  have  in  this  Parable,  a 
defence  of  God^s  sovereignty  in  the  exercise 
of  saving  mercy ^  from  the  mouth  of  our  bless- 
ed Lord  himself  That  sovereignty  is,  with 
much  impressiveness,  asserted  in  the  mem- 
orable sentence,  the  last  shall  be  first,  and 
the  first  last,  for  many  be  called  but  few  chosen. 
It  is  constantly,  and  in  the  strongest  terms, 
taught  in  Scripture.  Why  dost  thou  strive 
against  Him  !  for  he  giveth  not  account  of 
any  of  his  matters.  I  will  have  mercy  on 
whom  I  will  have  mercy ;  and  I  will  have 
compassion  on  whom  I  wilt  have  compassion. 
Not  by  works  of  righteousness  which  we  have 
done,  but  according  to  his  mercy  he  saved  us 
by  the  washing  of  regeneration,  and  renewing 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Who  hath  saved  us,  and 
27* 


318  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

called  us  with  a  holy  calling,  not  according  to 
our  tvorks,  hut  according  to  his  own  jmrpose 
and  grace,  which  was  given  us  in  Christ  be- 
fore the  world  began.  Let  not  these  inspired 
testimonies  be  hastily  passed  over,  but  let 
them  be  reverently  thought  upon,  and  their 
grave  import  be  laid  to  heart,  in  view  of 
the  hastening  retributions  of  eternity.  The 
high  destinies  of  man  do  depend  upon  the 
will  which  gave  creation  existence,  and 
controls  all  its  changes,  whether  in  hea- 
ven or  on  earth.  Man's  free-agency  and 
accountability,  the  riches  of  the  Divine 
compassion  toward  him,  and  his  natural 
competency  to  avail  himself  of  them,  and 
all  the  earnestness  and  urgency  with  which 
he  is  entreated  to  exert  his  powers  in  his 
soul's  behalf,  and  the  absolute  necessity  of 
his  exerting  them,  leave  it  still  a  truth, — 
a  truth  which  cannot  and  should  not  be 
concealed  or  evaded,  —  that  if  any  man 
be  saved,  he  is  saved  from  first  to  last, 
of  the  good  pleasure  of  God;   or,  in  the 


THE    FIRST    LAST,   AND    THE    LAST    FIRST.         319 

more  forcible  words  of  St.  Paul,  —  not  of 
him  that  willeth,  nor  of  him  that  runneth,  hut 
of  God  who  showeth  mercy.  The  fact  that 
our  Saviour  liimself,  on  so  many  occasions, 
and  so  boldly,  announced  this  great  truth, 
and  that  he  has  formally  given  a  vindication 
of  it  in  this  Parable,  is  sufficient  proof  that 
it  ought  not  to  disappear  from  the  preach- 
ing, or  the  standing  confessions  and  apolo- 
gies of  his  servants. 

It  may  be  that  the  reader  finds  little  com- 
placency in  this  doctrine.  It  surely  con- 
cerns him  however  to  be  on  the  side  of 
truth,  and  especially  of  a  truth  so  solemn 
in  its  bearings  on  his  own  eternity.  If  he 
has  any  difficulties  with  the  subject,  he 
should  wish  to  have  them  taken  out  of  his 
way.  Let  him  remember  that  his  having 
difficulties  with  it,  so  far  from  making 
aught  against  this  object  of  his  dislike,  is 
rather  proof  to  him  that  he  is  contending 
with  the  Divine  counsel,  since  the  Parable 
itself  presupposes  a  peculiar  obnoxiousness 


320  RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

in  its  lesson,  to  the  contradiction  of  man- 
kind. Why  are  the  complaining  labourers 
introduced  to  distinct  notice,  but  to  set 
forth  the  spirit  of  the  world  as  exercised 
with  this  subject  ? 

If  it  be  an  unwelcome  subject  to  the 
reader,  let  him  consider  whether  it  should, 
or  whether  in  reason  and  soberness,  it 
can  be  so.  Many  things  might  be  urged 
against  his  distaste  of  it.  It  might  be 
shown  from  a  consideration  of  the  cha- 
racter and  spirit  of  mankind,  that  if  any  of 
the  race  be  saved,  it  must,  of  necessity,  be 
in  an  exercise  of  God's  self-moved  mercy. 
If  God  be  influenced  at  all  by  what  men 
themselves,  in  a  moral  respect,  are  or  do, 
he  would  be  influenced  not  to  save,  but  to 
destroy  them.  In  his  pure  sight,  all  men 
are  sinners ;  and  their  works,  even  the  best 
of  their  works,  except  as  rendered  other- 
wise by  grace,  are  sinful.  If  any  repent,  he 
gives  them  repentance ;  if  any  come  to 
Christ,  it  is  because  of  the  secret  attractions 


THE    FIRST    LAST,    AND    THE    LAST    FIRST.  321 

of  his  Spirit;  if  any  are  saved,  it  is  by 
their  being  first  conquered  and  subdued  to 
the  dominion  of  hohness  and  truth.     But 
not  to  insist  on  this  and  many  other  con- 
siderations, let   the  objector  think  within 
himself,  whether  he  has  any  more  cause  for 
being  disaffected  toward  the  perfect  sove- 
reignty of  God's  saving  mercy,  than  the  la- 
bourers in  the  Parable  had  to  complain 
against  the  householder,  for  his  generosity 
to  their  fellow-labourers.     Let  him  reflect 
again  on  the  spirit  of  those  complainers, 
and  ask  himself  whether  he  has  a  better 
spirit  toward  God  and  goodness,  than  they 
are  represented  to  have  had  toward  their 
employer. 

If  the  reader  be  disturbed  by  his  being 
as  dependent  on  the  divine  will,  as  he 
must  feel  himself  to  be,  if  he  does  not 
discard  our  Lord's  teaching  in  this  Parable, 
let  him  remember  that  the  dependence, 
the  sense  of  which  is  so  painful  to  him,  is 
not  dependence  on  tyranny,  or  selfishness, 


RELIGION   OF   THE   BIBLE. 


or  caprice,  or  fate,  but  dependence  on 
pure  goodness  and  unerring  wisdom.  The 
will,  by  whose  decisions  he  must  abide,  is 
guided  by  a  knowledge,  a  sense  of  fitness 
and  propriety,  and  a  benevolence,  which 
are  absolutely  perfect.  The  reasons  of 
its  decisions  may  not  be  discoverable ;  but 
reasons  for  them  there  are ;  and  they  are 
reasons  which  are  as  weighty  in  themselves 
as  they  are  in  their  influence  on  the  Divine 
Mind. 

It  is  often  said  that  our  subject  is  inex- 
plicable; and  that  it  is  hence  needless  to 
employ  one's  thoughts  about  it.  No  satis- 
faction is  to  be  expected ;  no  consistent 
solution  of  the  matter  can  be  given.  —  For 
what  purpose,  then,  did  Christ  speak  this 
Parable  ?  Is  there  no  force,  no  pertinency, 
no  conclusiveness,  no  intelligibleness,  in 
the  reasons  by  which  he  would  here  si- 
lence the  murmurs  of  mankind?  Does  not 
the  subject,  as  here  set  forth,  commend  it- 
self to  reason,  to  conscience,  to  whatever 


THE    FIRST    LAST,  AND    THE    LAST    FIRST.  323 

is  intellectual  and  true  in  man  ?  However 
unsatisfactory  may  be  the  explanations  of 
others,  shall  that  of  our  Saviour  be  held 
insufficient  ?  Is  it  not  simplicity  itself? 
He  has  no  deep  theory,  no  subtle  discrimi- 
nations, no  elaborate  reasoning  ;  but  makes 
his  appeals  to  man's  common  sense,  and 
makes  them  in  such  a  manner,  that  com- 
mon sense  in  a  child,  can  neither  misap- 
prehend nor  resist  them.  Let  it  not  be 
again  said,  that  the  subject  is  mysterious. 
If  there  be  mystery  here,  it  is  not  the  mys- 
tery of  the  subject,  but  of  a  perverse  and 
unteachable  heart. 


THE    END. 


DATE  DUE 

■H> 

DEMCO  38-297 

